Dropping down the escarpment at Lympne to The Marsh I turned into the wind and found it VERY breezy. I decided to take a break at the Lathe Barn cafe/restuarant where I knew I could sit on the patio in the sun but out of the wind. A group of cyclists was already there, so I passed the time of day and asked where they had ridden from. "We have just come up from Camber", one replied.
I suggested that they would find the going heavier on their return as it would be all head wind cycling and suggested that they might find an ebike like mine of some use."Yeah, I was thinking that maybe your bike would just suit me", said on of them, who, I noticed had no left leg below the knee. I commented that his injury did not stop him cycling and asked how it happened. "Stepped on a mine in Afghanistan. Cycling is part of my physical and mental recovery", was the clipped reply.
After a pleasant 30 minutes in their company and with a cream/jam scone and pot of tea inside me I made to set off again in their intended direction. "Race you!", shouted the ex-army guy. I demurred, preferring my own gentle 12 mph pace, alone. It was a clear day with typical Marsh skies and, in spite of the head wind the electric genie gave steady going.
However, a couple of miles after I stopped to take the above shot I rounded a corner of the lane to be confronted by this.
One expects to see the odd dead badger by the side of the lanes, but not a full length, 16.5 metre, 44 tonne, 12 wheeled artic blocking the way completely. In fact my only way past was to squeeze self and bike through the gap on the left between the hedge and lorry.
A Dutch driver, he was about 5 miles in any direction from a suitable road (for him) and had obviously got lost and was trying by satnav to reach such a road. A lot of HGV drivers seem to use car-type satnavs which are not at all suitable for behemoths which try to negotiate "lanes which wind like streams among the hedgerows" (to quote Betjeman, who enjoyed Romney Marsh). In fact their winding is to follow the dykes which cover this corner of Kent and all these lanes have deep ditches to each side which the driver found out to his cost when trying to get round this tight corner, putting his offside rear six wheels down into the 8 foot gully.
Engaging satnav must have switched off his brain because he passed a sign about 200 yards before this warning of a small bridge a mile ahead which he could never have crossed (assuming he could have negotiated the succession of tight corners to it). Note how he had destroyed one support of the sign, (see his wheel ruts). I managed to bend it back so it could be read.
In my years of training coach drivers I always insisted that, if they had to use a satnav, it was one designed for large vehicles and to KEEP THE BRAIN ACTIVE TO MAKE SURE THE ROADS WERE SUITABLE.
I much prefer maps. One can see everything around you and where the roads go, not putting one's trust into the "keyhole"view or disembodied voice of a Satnav. I have never owned one, although I grant that they could have their uses when negotiating strange towns.
