National Bike to Work Week on May, 2024: I have my bike test coming up!!?

National Bike to Work Week 2024. Hooptedoodle : Bike to work week This week is National Bike to

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I have my bike test coming up!!?

Hi Cal,

you ask about the Module 1 test which as you are aware is the off road element so forget roundabout positioning and national speed limits for the moment.

Feel free to ask again as you approach Module 2

Module 1 is done in a 140m x 40m yard total enclosed by fencing, there is only you and the examiner in there and he will have closed the gate on his way in. Despite this he will have said to you that at all times you must imagine you are on a road, so REAR OBSERVATIONS. Every time before you move off from a stationary position.

You are allowed 5 minor faults and still pass, miss a rear observation and it is a minor except on the U turn, it is a major fault = failure.

Knocking a cone over is a major fault. Do not look at them look where you want to go.

You start the test in a motorcycle parking bay outside the fence, after noting your bikes registration he will open the gate and invite you to ride in and stop just inside the gate. Rear Observation before moving away from the parking bay.

Inside he closes the gate and then invites you to ride around and park the bike in a box of 4 green cones. Rear Observation and ride in as wide a circle as you like to do this.

At ever stage he will whip out his diagram and explain the next stage. They are happy to repeat all instructions until they are sure you know what is asked of you. Do not be afraid to ask if anything is not clear to you.

I,m sure your instructor will have gone through the stages but all practice is good practice.

You will be required to push the bike backwards into the other box of 4 green cones. The choice of how you do this is yours. A backwards U, a straight back and forward U to go straight back again, whichever you are comfortable doing. Just do not kick a cone.

You will then be invited to ride a slalom through yellow cones and 2 figure of 8s through 2 blue cones. Rear Observation before you move off. The figure of 8 can be done as wide as you like, do not make life difficult for yourself by doing tiny tight circles, you just have to cross over in between the 2 blue cones.

Don,t bother counting the figure of 8, the examiner will and and call you off when he is happy.

You will then be invited to do a slow speed ride to the U turn area. Rear Observation. The speed is not measured! Don,t put your feet down though.

A single comforting dab is OK, flat foot taking any weight of the bike is a fail.

U turn. Rear Observation, ride forward to get your balance, Rear Observation before taking the turn. Stay within the white lines.

The three higher speed maneuver next, again he will show you on his diagram at each stage.

The first run is basically a practice to judge your speed, you must stop under control in the box made of 4 blue cones. You will be able to judge your speed around the bottom curve ready for the next two runs.

It is timed but not recorded.

The second run is the 'swerve' maneuver where you must attain 50kph through the timing gate before the swerve. 48 or 49 kph is now recorded as a minor fault. Below this and you will be given a second run at it. Do not look at the cones, look where you want the bike to go. Come to a stop with the front wheel between the 2 blue cones.

The final run is the emergence stop. Speed requirements are as for the swerve. It is an exercise! You know he is going to put his hand up the moment you pass the timing gate. It is not real. Treat it like an exercise then - throttle off, front brake, rear brake -squeeze and keep squeezing, count 1 2 3 and pull the clutch in. Leave the gears alone. In the ideal world you will stop with the engine running and left foot only on the floor (the right should be on the brake). It is a minor to stall the bike.

With all three speed maneuvers Rear Observation before you move off.

If you have achieved the required speed he will open the gate and invite you out. If you failed to achieve the speed he will invite you to repeat the maneuver one more time.

Rear Observation before you drive off the yard.

Drive the bike into the parking bay, don't mess about reversing it in, the test is done.

With regard to the ZX6R just remember the throttle moves both ways. Take it steady at first.

Should we have a national poor week?

Should we have a national poor week?

I think it's a cracking idea - but I doubt you'll find many takers.

I know damn well that I couldn't manage on £65 per week. For a start, my mortgage is more than that on its own. For those of us lucky enough to have jobs, much of our money is tied up in things like mortgages, car repayments etc. However, I don't see any reason why we couldn't have a week where we forego heating & lighting (easier in summer than winter), & or restrict food intake for a week.

I doubt there would be much uptake, but I don't think that's necessarily a reason not to do it. Perhaps if peoplewere encouraged to deal with ONE of the problems for a week, that people living in poverty have to deal with on a daily basis it would be a good start.

I CAN answer another of your questions though. You asked, "Where did i state we should all get the same?"

You didn't, but it's far easier to misrepresent what you said than it is to answer the question. As for another of your comments, I'm going to highlight this the best way I know how:

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"...you can't tell me those at the top of the tree work thousands of times harder than those at the bottom earning minimum wage."

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Finally - somebody has spotted it!! Now all we need is for the rest of the electorate to realise it and we might make some progress.

ETA: @ Kate. I don't think it would need enforcement - much as "no smoking week" isn't enforced either. It's an event in which people would be encouraged to make an adjustment to their lifestyle. No penalties necessary for non-compliance.

As for Stephen M - you don't think that the wealthy get enough? Really? You think we should have everybody emulating those who asset strip for short term gain? As for your comment, "your idea that everyone should get the same ", I can't see anywhere that anybody has said that. Not even once. How about actually answering the points made, rather than making up your own?

Christ on a bike, the tories are bad, but you sound even worse.

(Edited again to add details as ideas came to me)

What is a really fun to do in washington DC!!! For A week there????????

What is a really fun to do in washington DC!!! For A week there????????

National Zoo for sure.

I really like Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Neat to see all that money.

You could spend the entire week going in all the Smithsonian buildings. The new Smithsonian Air & Space Museum near Dulles might be worth the drive if you have your own car, Metro doesn't go there. But you really have to love airplanes, otherwise the one in DC will suffice.

Visit all the monuments. You have to get to the Washington Monument early to be able to get a ticket (they're free) to go up to the top. FDR Monument was really good, lots of waterfalls.

You can rent paddleboats in the pond in the Ellipise.

If you are driving, one thing to keep in mind when going around near the Capitol, the streets get confusing around there. There's two 3rd Streets, and two 4th's, two 5th's, two 6th's, etc. One group SE of the Capitol and one group SW of the Capitol. I was looking for a restaurant called the Tune Inn, (it's a dive, but a great hangout for peolpe that work at the Capitol) and I knew it was on 4th Street, but I couldn't find it because I was walking around the 4th Street SW of the Capitol; it's on the 4th Street SE of the Capitol.

Also, like most Capitol cities, the areas around the government bulidings are dead at night. And there isn't much in the way of restaurants around the government buildings. There a cool strip of shops and bars in Georgetown, and also in Chinatown. (DC's Chinatown is by the Verizon Center.)

If you get a chance go to Old Town Alexandria. Lots of shops and restaurants there. You can tie that in with a trip to Mount Vernon or the George Washington Masonic Monument, it's actually taller than the one in DC cause it's built on a huge hill.

Falls Church, VA has some really neat historic walking trails, you can get there by car or Metro.

Manassas National Battlefield Park is great for hiking; if you have time and a car. Quite a surprise when walking up a hill to discover a cannon is aimed at you!

If you have a bike and can bring it, do so. DC has tons of bike trails. There's a trail that goes all the way from DC to George Washington's home at Mount Vernon. It's a long haul, but a beautiful ride. There's also a 45 mile bike trail from DC into Northern Virginia on an abandoned rail road.

And try to get a ticket for a Nationals game. I hear the new stadium is really plush.

Also on this date Wednesday, May 1, 2024...