Sam 

I need a cauliflower for dinner (and a few other odds and sods).

I don't want to drive to the shop because fuel costs are bonkers (thanks, twotsit) and, anyway, it's only 6 miles. Also, we need to take the car out later for archery.

But it's a NErly gusting to 70km/h out there, and with panniers on a fixed gear that sounds particularly unfun.

Should I don my big pants? Or is discretion the better part of valour, especially in pneumonia recovery? #decisions #BikeTooter

Mar 25 at 12:49pmWeb
Show threadSam Mar 25
OK, there is horizontal hail/rain/snow out there now. That's a particular kind of unfun I can do without.
Show threadSam Mar 25

That's all three, by the way. Rain, hail AND snow.

Horizontal.

Yes, I have decent weather gear, but ugh. Hail hitting you in the face at 50mph isn't nice. You'd need some kind of armour for that.

Show threadAmateur HumanMar 25
@ravenbait oh and the sun was out for part in the middle of it all...
Show threadSam Mar 25
@djstreethawk Aye. Just as I think the sun has come out to play, I turn round for 3s and when I turn back it's every shade f winter at once again.
Show threadAmateur HumanMar 25
@ravenbait look on the bright side, it's too windy for fog
Show threadSam Mar 25
@djstreethawk 😂 Too true. The haar doesn't stand a chance in this.
Show threadtrainguyromMar 25
@ravenbait sounds like the kind of situation where I'll swear to myself that I'll finally invest in an ebike, but I'm really bad about actually spending money on myself so I don't
Show threadSam Mar 25

@trainguyrom Yeah, the being poorly/recovering from serious illness part of #UtilityCycling is where an e-bike would be super handy! Wouldn't stop me being blown off into a hedge (or under a tractor) though.

I wish I could tell when the windfarm on the hill over the road was stopped because it's too windy, and when it's because there's no capacity for the electricity it would be producing. I think "too windy for a windfarm" is probably a good measure for cycling.

Show threadcognitively accessible mathMar 25
@ravenbait Is it tailwind which way?
Six miles is just long enough so that if you figure out it was a bad idea it will be too late (unles it's 'tailwind back,' in which case I'd say riding said bike slowly into it is do-able).
Show threadSam Mar 25

@geonz Tailwind on the outward journey, so battling it back home with full panniers. On a fixed gear. With a third of one lung not working.

Maybe not.

Show thread14missionMar 25
@ravenbait My $0.02: If you have to drive when you'd rather not, get some big heavy stuff too, and then your next grocery run will be more bikeable.
Show threadSam Mar 25
@14mission I did that thing!
Show threadRaccoonsMar 25
@ravenbait I would go with discretion as the better part of valor on this one. Pneumonia is no joke and stressing one’s system under such circumstances might be pushing it a bit too far.
Show threadSam Mar 25
@RayKuntz That was the decision I made. I really, REALLY don't want to get ill again or even impede my recovery.
Show threadTed LemonMar 25

@ravenbait

The pneumonia recovery bit and the 70kph winds seem incompatible over a 6 mile distance (is that one way or round trip?).

Are fuel costs bonkers in the "it would blow the budget way" or in the "feels expensive" way? Because I have a friend who just got a hernia because he didn't want to pay a $50 baggage fee, and he's definitely seeing the wisdom of paying in retrospect. :]

Show threadSam Mar 25
@abhayakara Fuel costs are currently around 190p/litre, or 2.18 euro. That's pretty bloody expensive. I'd love to be able to afford an electric car, but we can't. It's 6 miles each way -- if it had been a 6 mile round trip, I'd have probably just done it. As it was, I took the car to save my lungs and avoid being blown under a tractor!
Show threadTed LemonMar 25

@ravenbait

I suspect that was a wise choice. Particularly the bit about tractors. Them's scary. :)

Show threadSam Mar 25
@abhayakara They really are! The farmers round here seem to know me, at least. Not sure that would make it better if the wind blew me under one of them, though!
Show threadTed LemonMar 25
@ravenbait Probably not. The tractor has no mercy…
Show threadWenMar 25
@ravenbait Hope that archery is indoors 🤭
Show threadSam Mar 25
@Wen It was 😆
Show threadAmgineMar 25

@ravenbait

"Hi! delivery groceries? I need…"

Show threadSam Mar 25
@Amgine That's not a thing where we live, unfortunately!