Back from the Peak District national park where they have a problem. On the narrow curvaceous roads motorbike riders have the life expectancy of a second-lieutenant in WW1. To ram this home accident spots are flagged with yellow Biker Crash Zone notices (in one case a mere 15 m apart), reinforced with others saying, typically, “39 bike riders have been killed or injured on this road”. Turn off that road and another notice announces that 22 riders have been turned into mince on the new road.Very laudable. Bikers are more sinned against than sinning and always come off worst in a car/bike symbiosis. Regard them as a threatened species. But there are limits. When it doesn’t rain the Peak District is beautiful if austere territory. The frequency of these proclamations detracts from what one sees. Of course the scenery could become so yellow-spotted bikers won’t be tempted to go there.
TOO MUCH, I SAY
Following a post about the irritations – financial and dermatological – of shaving, Avus put me right and I shall continue with the swivel-head Bic he recommended. However, in a gesture parallel to Christ being tempted by the Devil, my daughter bought me, inter alia, a Gillette Fusion Power for my birthday. This not only has a five-blade head and a trimmer for the bit under my nose but is also battery powered so that it jiggles across my face.It has one big advantage – it requires almost no pressure and I finish shaving without feeling flayed. But I shall eventually discard it. The blades cost £2.40 each! I do not – could not – love my face that much.
5 comments:
Last time we were in the Peak District (I love walking
the "Doctor's Gate" Roman Road) I was horrified at the behaviour of motorcyclists at weekends on the passes - they all seemed to have a death wish.
Glad the razor recommendation suits you. Some of those all singing, dancing ones now on offer seem to me to be a solution looking for a problem.
I have always been fascinated by the fact that around this area, the black leather clad bikers who look wild and crazy on the surface seem to be the most gentlemanly and that the highfalutin' bikers with all of the latest gear tend towards being the most ill-mannered clods on the roadways.
We have a place here in the USA called Tail of the Dragon
URL Here: http://www.tailofthedragon.com/
It is festooned with bikes, in fact, so much so, that it isn't fun to ride. Too many Bikes!
Like Sturgis in August. So many bikes on the road, you can only see bikes behind and ahead on the road.
Beautiful places to ride, but only if you have the road to yourself.
Shaving. Very interesting. You take one of the sharpest instruments known to mankind and drag it across the second most sensitive part of your body, (the first being below the waist somewhere if I could find it), and keep dragging it until all evidence of hair is gone. Barbaric!
I had a beard for many years. In 1986 I had a heart surgery. The nurses shaved me head to toe in the front. I returned home and the children, (and spousal unit), told me I looked ten years younger and that I shouldn't grow another beard.
Now, when I get a few days growth, I get scolded and told I won't be kissed by the little ones as I have "Pokies".
So I am a barbarian and drag the Gilette Mach III across the face.
Five blades you say, No Kidding??!!
Peace.
Avus: The Peak District roads were certainly tempting "biker's" roads. The two main hazards were very steep dips and blind hill crests. Saw one lunatic but then we weren't there at the weekend.
As to razors, the whole thing is a very extended marketing ploy. Unheard-of technology is employed to tempt shavers into changing their razors; the development money is then recouped by charging a fortune for blades unique to that razor. It's very much a male world; the wannabes feel they must try out what's new, seemingly without knowing they're being taken to the cleaners.
RW (zS): What amuses me is the transformation that occurs. A herd of bikers arrives at a cafe on machines capable of doing 60 mph in 3.2 seconds and topping 160 mph. They take off their helmets and, lo, they're all grey-heads with generous stomachs.
Spadoman: Had a look at Tail of the Dragon. I'm astonished you, as a biker, feel crowded out. Does this include side-roads as well? After all you live in a big country. Solution: move to Siberia and switch to a dog sleigh in winter.
I'm committed to shaving, I'm afraid. (Just remembered a brand of pipe tobacco available in the fifties: Baby's Bottom (as in "smooth as a..."). They wouldn't be able to sell it these days). I note that men who work sometimes go unshaven at the weekend as a sign of relaxation. I just can't bear the scritchiness.
Do you remember when there were safety razors and standard razor blades with two edges? A lost age and lost equipment for which we should all mourn.
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