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SUMMER IS FAST approaching but that doesn’t mean you won’t be riding in the rain from time to time. Follow these few rules and keep yourself safe…
Wet roads increase your stopping time considerably so take into account you’ll need to brake earlier to stop earlier.
Make sure your brake pads are in perfect working order and when you squeeze them make sure they grip the rims of the tyres quickly.
That extra half a second it takes worn out brake pads to grip the rims is crucial. Brake pads have wear indicators on them so if yours are on their last legs then get them changed asap!
You could be having the ride of your life and feel invincible.
Rain is often therapeutic and with a hot shower at work awaiting you think nothing of that puddle up ahead….until you hammer it head on.
Little did you know that puddle masked a hold a foot deep and now, instead of the shower at work, you’re in a roadside bath….with a mangled bike.
AVOID the puddles.
The term ‘Fred’ refers to the man or woman who has zero style points on the bike.
The easiest way to spot a Fred is by his oversized luminous yellow jacket because it’s one of the first things newbie cyclists will buy but for commuters it’s a must-have.
As well as the jacket you should get a good set of lights – so good that oncoming traffic might think you’re a motorbike. There’s even a reflective spray paint for cyclists on the market now so there really is no excuse for not looking like a Fred.
Stick to the safer, less flood-prone roads, if you can. And when riding on newly resurfaced roads take extra care, especially if there was a protracted period of good weather. Sun melts road-new tarmac compacts-water cannot percolate as well-water collects on the surface-danger is imminent.
Let a little air out of those tyres when the rain comes down. Why? Harder tyres cover less of a surface area, softer tyres have a little more grip.
You only need to drop the pressure one or two bars (or 20psi) if you’re on a road bike.
The health service isn’t “overlooked”. It’s just terribly ran and inefficient.
@Seán Ó hAnnracháin: Agree the Irish Health Service consumes 11% of our GDP v 9% average for other EU countries. Transparency needed on unit production. How many total manhours per procedure (direct and all indirect) v international benchmarks? Please publish.
- 2 Tier Irish Health System is obscene.
- Belfast buses from West Cork for cataract operations.
Tidal wave of health and mental issue s will follow.
The worse is yet to come.
‘Overlooked’ as in intentionally underfunded to scare people into the arrms of private health insurance companies.
“That’s the standard technique of privatization: defund, make sure things don’t work, people get angry, you hand it over to private capital” – Noam Chomsky
@The Risen: Funding has increased by 1/5 over the past 5 years, so the HSE is definitely not being “underunded”, but epically mis-managed. But don’t let facts get in the way of your little rants.
@The Risen: it’s a thought but I don’t really think so there are a lot off buffoons in charge
@The Risen: nothing underfunded about our health service… It’s run by a bunch of interest groups who are more concerned with their share rather than the health of the nation. Top heavy management that wasn’t thinned out in the move from Health Boards to the HSE maintains the lack of value and continuing inefficiency of any investment. Hospitals owned or managed by “patrons” despite being funded and developed by the state limit the mobility and efficiency of trained staff. Working practices designed to ensure as much staff as possible are paid at higher levels and a ridiculous consultant contract all contribute to ensure that any individual procedure actually costs more than the equivalent in a private setting, any of the double jobbing consultants will confirm this.
@The Risen: You say this because the HSE SHOULD BE a leftists’ wet dream – a big public sector (union dominated) organisation running our health system for the benefit of the public. But it’s a disaster. But that’s ok, because just blame the mean Gov or those evil capitalists. Hate to burst your bubble, but the HSE is the way it is because it is dominated by public sector vested interests (i.e Unions). There is no real accountability. There is no desire from within for change and any significant change is fought tooth nail because the status quo suits the special interests (i.e PS unions)- they’ve carved it out this way. At least if you’re paying for a service, the provider has an interest in providing you a good service. The HSE bureaucrat has no such interest, they are paid regardless.
All future governments will tie up the banking crisis borrowings with loans from Covid and will blame “Covid” for everything for years to come.
What health service as its near impossible to even see a GP these days
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