From Newsgroup: uk.rec.cycling


QUOTE:
It hurt when I crashed my bike into a pothole rCo and it taught me the
true price of austerity

George Monbiot

Fixing that hole could have cost under -u100; the cost of not doing so is limitless. My prang highlights the neoliberal folly of false economies

[ ... ]

My helmet and glasses took most of the impact. I emerged, remarkably,
with just a few cuts and bruises.
ENDQUOTE

He won't make many friends among the loonier end of the cyclists posse
for the mention of the helmet... but... serious question... who,
ultimately, is or was responsible for fixing that hole?

I don't want the name of the roadwork team who come to enlarge the
pothole, making it a better size for a reasonable repair, fill the hole
with hardcore before giving it a hot rolled coat of tarmac. Or even the
name of the county council's chairman of the highways committee.

What I want is to identify the group of people that Monbigot thinks
should foot the bill.

On his form to date, it's going to be people who had nothing to do with
the failure to repair the roads. But who are seen as a handy cash-cow
for local authorities and the Treasury.

I'm sorry he suffered the cuts and bruises, I suppose. But could he
really not see a deep pothole directly in his path? Could he not decide
either to avoid it, or - Heavens forfend - to slow down or stop in order
to obviate the danger?

Or would that be a sacrilege?
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.rec.cycling

On 05/10/2025 09:04 pm, JNugent wrote:

QUOTE:
It hurt when I crashed my bike into a pothole rCo and it taught me the
true price of austerity

George Monbiot

Fixing that hole could have cost under -u100; the cost of not doing so is limitless. My prang highlights the neoliberal folly of false economies

[ ... ]

My helmet and glasses took most of the impact. I emerged, remarkably,
with just a few cuts and bruises.
ENDQUOTE

He won't make many friends among the loonier end of the cyclists posse
for the mention of the helmet... but... serious question... who,
ultimately, is or was responsible for fixing that hole?

I don't want the name of the roadwork team who come to enlarge the
pothole, making it a better size for a reasonable repair, fill the hole
with hardcore before giving it a hot rolled coat of tarmac. Or even the
name of the county council's chairman of the highways committee.

What I want is to identify the group of people that Monbigot thinks
should foot the bill.

On his form to date, it's going to be people who had nothing to do with
the failure to repair the roads. But who are seen as a handy cash-cow
for local authorities and the Treasury.

I'm sorry he suffered the cuts and bruises, I suppose. But could he
really not see a deep pothole directly in his path? Could he not decide either to avoid it, or - Heavens forfend - to slow down or stop in order
to obviate the danger?

Or would that be a sacrilege?

Sorry... forgot to paste in the URL.

<https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/oct/04/crashed-bike-pothole-cost-cycling>

--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.rec.cycling

JNugent <JNugent73@mail.com> wrote:

QUOTE:
It hurt when I crashed my bike into a pothole rCo and it taught me the
true price of austerity

George Monbiot

Fixing that hole could have cost under -u100; the cost of not doing so is limitless. My prang highlights the neoliberal folly of false economies

[ ... ]

My helmet and glasses took most of the impact. I emerged, remarkably,
with just a few cuts and bruises.
ENDQUOTE

He won't make many friends among the loonier end of the cyclists posse
for the mention of the helmet... but... serious question... who,
ultimately, is or was responsible for fixing that hole?

I don't want the name of the roadwork team who come to enlarge the
pothole, making it a better size for a reasonable repair, fill the hole
with hardcore before giving it a hot rolled coat of tarmac. Or even the
name of the county council's chairman of the highways committee.

What I want is to identify the group of people that Monbigot thinks
should foot the bill.

On his form to date, it's going to be people who had nothing to do with
the failure to repair the roads. But who are seen as a handy cash-cow
for local authorities and the Treasury.

I'm sorry he suffered the cuts and bruises, I suppose. But could he
really not see a deep pothole directly in his path? Could he not decide either to avoid it, or - Heavens forfend - to slow down or stop in order
to obviate the danger?

Or would that be a sacrilege?

Well, be thankful for small merciesrCaat least he wasnrCOt riding on the footwayrCa
--
Spike

--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2