Afternoon,
It's a lovely afternoon here in the Capital (again), though it was a bit grey
and cloudy this morning. But since I'd gotten almost all my given chores
completed yesterday, I was allowed off the chain today to go riding for a
while.
I wasn't going to write anything this week since I was completely lost for
inspiration, but once I had gotten back home, a topic suddenly came to me:
Common Courtesy. Or maybe that should be "Uncommon Courtesy" ? Who
knows.
My two riding companions had only a morning available, so it was only going
to be a quick trip over the Rimutakas to the Wairarapa, a quick tootle around
the back blocks and then home again by midday.
I'm always Tail End Charlie on our rides, mostly because they are both on
larger machines and generally quicker than me. And they're pretty courteous,
in that they do wait for me at key intersections to make sure that I haven't
gotten myself temporarily misplaced. Otherwise known as 'lost'.
For me, a challenge on the Rimutakas is to try and go over and back and not
have to use the brakes unless really necessary (i.e. the right gear and speed
on all corners).
On the way up the Hutt side of the Rimutakas this morning, the other two
managed to get past two horse floats just before the bottom, while yours
truly decided to hang back and wait for another opening. Which is when
the boy racer caught up with me.
And he followed me up most of the hill, trying to find an opportunity on the
overtaking lanes to show me his shiny new tailpipes.
As we progressed, I can understand that he may have become captivated
by the lovely red colour of the VFR, but I would have appreciated it if he
hadn't tried to do so while sitting on the pillion. Well, it certainly felt that
damn close.
Anyway, near the top (the last passing lane), I slowed down just enough
so he could blast (?) past me and we were both happy. He, since he had
demonstrated his driving prowess, and me, happy that he was now in front
where I could keep an eye on him on the way down. I'm really courteous
like that.
And then he pulls off and stops in the carpark at the top of the Rimutakas.
What was all that about then ?
Oh well, onwards. No-one in front now and no-one in the mirrors, so I could
concentrate on the cornering without worrying about other following traffic.
Half way down the hill to Featherston, I looked in the mirrors to suddenly see
an Agusta sitting on my tail (he must have been moving), and who followed me
for a short distance (before deciding to overtake).
Which was fine, except that we had slightly different ideas as to where a safe
overtake might be performed. And I don't think immediately before a 25km/hour
hairpin bend was really quite the right spot.
As I started to go slightly wide and position for the left hander, he quickly
swooped out right around the outside of me, dived into the spot that I was
just moving into, and braked right in front of me.
Now, I'm an Agusta fan, but "nice Agusta" were not the words I said to myself
as I braked as well to avoid clipping his tail-end. Please, sir, some patience
and consideration for your fellow bikers.
Anyway, I got to Featherston, we re-grouped, and then headed out on a wee
tootle. And once the cobwebs had been suitably cleared, we then stopped in
Greytown for a coffee.
While we were sitting down outside the cafe having a coffee and a sausage roll
in the sun, some other people came and sat down at an adjoining table. One couple
had a dog with them, and of course, it took all of two seconds for the dog's radar
to tune and work out which of us still had a dog offering on our plate. And to sit
there looking longingly at me.
The lady owner said not to feed him (how did she even know that I was thinking
about it ?), and of course, I nodded. At which point I accidentally knocked the
last portion off my plate, and "Fluffy" (or whatever it was called) then pounced
and inhaled it before I could even react.
Which did lead to a slightly uncomfortable silence for a minute or so. Look, I
did apologise and say I was sorry. It was an accident. Honest. She should have
kept it on a tighter lead anyway.
It was time to leave anyway (we'd all finished our coffee), so we hopped back on
our machines and headed back towards the Hutt.
It was a lovely morning, and even when I caught up to an Audi Q7 pulling a trailer,
he moved over slightly to the left (on double yellows, no less) and waved me on
through. And it would have been rude not to accept his kind offer. I mean, this
just doesn't happen under normal circumstances.
And it was still feeling good back on the Rimutakas, when the gentleman in the
people mover (coming down on the Featherston side) decided to cross the yellow
line and use some of the tarmac on my side of the road (just as I was about to).
I happily moved over to accommodate him. How more considerate could you be !
But the interesting part of the trip occurred just as we got to the turn-off by the
Silverstream bridge.
There must have been a custom car meet happening somewhere nearby, as a
fleet of nicely presented cars started to stream through the intersection on the
cross signal.
Two motorcyclists within their group then parked up across the traffic (our lanes)
and then proceeded to vigorously wave their group through. Yes, we could all see
that they were simply trying to keep their group together, and that we might miss
one light change. That's fine. No issue.
Except that the gentleman at the head of our right hand lane begged to differ,
and then tried to drive his car around the motorcyclist parked across his lane,
even to the point of partially mounting the traffic island. Really ?
At which point, his brain must have engaged and he stopped. What was he going
to do anyway ? Try and drive through the cross stream of cars, even though we
had the green light and right of way ? I don't think so.
The custom cars kept flowing, and once they had finished, the motorcyclists waved
a cheery "Thanks" to the car drivers that had been inconvenienced and then headed
off to catch their group.
However, I was so busy focusing on this event in front of me that I hadn't noticed
the police car (with flashing red and blue lights) that had stealthed up just to the
left of me, and who then quickly turned and chased after the custom car group.
I suspect that a wee conversation might have occurred soon afterwards.
We had to wait maybe another 15 seconds before the lights turned green for us and
we were all on our way again. And we were home again by midday. A lovely morning
out.
My dearly beloved had some shopping to do, and also wanted a hand to drop off a
few items at the local recycling bins. So off with the riding gear, and into the car
(and yes, I did get dressed again in-between).
Now, for some reason, these recycling bins were also a popular destination today,
and parking space was limited. We turned in and then backed up to leave some
space for our fellow recycler (as you do), and there was about 1.5 car lengths
free space in front of us.
As we were about to depart, along came a lady who then proceeded to park
nose-to-nose with us and consume all the free space, to the extent that we
were now boxed in. Flashed the headlights, raised my hands in plain sight as to
say "what gives?", and indicate that we simply wanted to exit.
But No, she exited her car and mouthed something in our direction like "I'll only
be a minute". Yeh, right. And then proceeded to start unloading the back of her
car. Instead of simply backing her car up a half car length first. And so we waited,
and waited. She certainly had managed to get plenty of recycling into the back of
that car.
I have to admit that I did think about returning the favour when she was ready to
leave, but was reliably informed that would simply be confrontational, and not at all
courteous. "Yes, my love, you're right as always". And not worth getting upset about.
So, what did I learn today ? That common courtesy is maybe not so common after all,
and that it is sometimes displayed when you least expect it. Oh, and not to feed the
dog !
Learning All The Time - Common Courtesy
