Thwarted again! (Climate grumbles)

[Rynglieder]

A few weeks back I got a call from a mate suggesting the day looked good for a short run out. It would be the last one of the year together as Steve wraps up his bike for the winter.

I suggested a run out into Shropshire as there was a castle I wanted to visit and the route out there would provide good roads for motorcycling. All went well until we left Craven Arms and turned toward Clun but as I lead us south toward Clungunford we came across "Road Closed" signs. Being the optimist, I gave the barriers a bit of a swerve and tried to push on, but sure enough I found the road completely flooded and was forced back onto the B4368. Carrying on toward Aston on Clun, I spotted another sign for Clungunford and decided to give it a try, but it just bought us back out at the road closure barriers.

Back onto the B4368 again then I reached the village of Purslow and found another signed left turn enticing me. We probably got a mile down this one before we found it impassable and once again was forced into a 180-degree turn. Thankfully I was on the Z1000 which is a light enough bike to do this sort of thing, turning the GTR would probably have needed help from Steve and three or four farm labourers.
In the end the planned destination was abandoned and we settled for a coffee and BLT baguette at a pub in Clun. Some of the locals seemed surprised "tourists" had got through and were asking us where we had come from, I think some believed they were completely cut of – certainly, as we left the pub and glanced down toward the town's bridge all we could see were the parapets above the flooded river and an abandoned pick-up truck impersonating a swan.

To cap off a frustrating day we got hit with rain that the BBC had failed to forecast for our run home. Steve had a much harder clean down on his baby than he was expecting before tucking it up.

Roll on a couple of weeks and I decided to go for a short run on the Z1000 again as the GSX is currently out of reach. I knew very well it had been raining a lot over the last few days (Storm Bert) but there were no big issues at home and as I was only planning a few miles I set out with no preparation and an innocent smile.

A brief stop in Bewdley revealed the River Severn was looking quite high, but well below the flood defences. I pushed on toward Tenbury Wells in yet another shower on a supposedly dry day. Pulling up in Tenbury for a coffee I was confronted with flashing blue lights at the far end of the main street and "Road Closed" signs barring my intended destination. A quick chat with the natives when I bought my coffee confirmed there was no chance of getting through on the Bromyard road, so once again The Environment had stuck its boot on the neck of my ride out.



It wasn't until I got home and caught the national news that I realised how bad things were, specifically in Tenbury. The main river through the town (The Teme) hadn't breached, but a smaller river (The Kyre Brook) at the other end of town had washed away its retaining wall. Video on the news showed the effect of some inconsiderate agricultural type driving a tractor through the flood and adding to the already considerable damage with his bow-wave.



Which brings me on to Climate Change – now, some of you may be mentally switching off at this point, I know I have started to do so. The dreaded CC is being forcibly inserted into every documentary or news item these days (in the same way that every drama has to have one woman in a position of power, a minimum of one person of an ethnic persuasion, a character with a disability and one or two that are implied Gay if not overtly so. I now sit in front of my TV every evening ticking them off, I can't settle down into the plot until I've got them all).

I believe the climate is changing, I'm not a "denier" but I also believe that the climate and planet have always changed. Even if humankind was not around, the planet and climate will change. Go to Wrens Nest Nature reserve on a hill near Dudley and you will find fossils showing it was once a tropical sea bed. The isle of Wight used to be connected to mainland Britain – The Needles on the IOW and Old Harry Rocks in Dorset reveal the point of connection. England was linked to France years before the channel tunnel was constructed and none of this change was due to industrialisation or human CO2 emissions.

If there is a way of producing cheaper, cleaner energy, I'm all for it. Despite this, some bloke from Stourbridge going for a blast on an orange Kawasaki for the shear joy of it is probably not helping. I think it makes little or no difference. We are going to have to live with change whatever and just make sure we are more prepared.



Stay out of the deep stuff.

Pete.

[Andre]

If there is a way of producing cheaper, cleaner energy, I'm all for it.

There is (are). Problem is that (my) government increases taxes on energy (and more). Photovoltaic is basically very cheap to have, but rules, regulations, bureaucracy, and taxes (they often don't call it that) makes it very dear. Just stumpled over a couple years old letter from my power provider. Informed me that the kw/h goes from 25 cent to 39 cent.

[GSXKING]

The issue with CC supporters is they haven't taken the time to question the validity of those espousing the ideology. They just accept the diatribe handed out.
I'm a rare breed and satisfy my curiosity by questioning everything. The science of CC is definitely not conclusive and there are plenty of decenters however they aren't given any traction by the established media. They aren't HIP enough to TikTok their way to popularity.

[Andre]

The science of CC is definitely not conclusive and there are plenty of decenters however they aren't given any traction by the established media.

This is a very common theme in science and media. In 1989 my food science prof suggested to me to look into the common take on cholesterol. He included the hint that it might not be what the majority believed. I did and wrote a little paper for my technical writing class. "HOW DARE YOU write against the official take of the medical community" was the response of the instructor. He was truly incensed. About 15 years later I noticed first "news" reports that took a similar stand as I did in my paper. When 90 percent of experts believe a thing, it does not mean that the opposing 10 percent are wrong.

I think it is always a good approach to consider what the dissenting parties have to say. Doesn't apply exclusively to science and media. Example: product reviews and tests (yep, includes tires and engine oil). I look at the 1-star reviews first and then work my way up to the five.

[grog]

All i want is some CC, just to stop it raining, even the 🦆are sick of it.No bike, no golf, such a tough life.😎

[Andre]

One of the biggest boons of cc in my neck of the woods is the huge decrease in need for shoveling snow. Can count on one hand when I had to clear the white stuff in the last 11 winters. When it snows, it usually melts within hours. Pretty lucky in my tiny corner here. My sister lives in southern Germany. They get lots more of snow, rain, cold, and heat.

[Hooli]

The issue with CC supporters is they haven't taken the time to question the validity of those espousing the ideology. They just accept the diatribe handed out.
I'm a rare breed and satisfy my curiosity by questioning everything. The science of CC is definitely not conclusive and there are plenty of decenters however they aren't given any traction by the established media. They aren't HIP enough to TikTok their way to popularity.

Same here.

When there's any proof that we've done anything except exit the mini ice-age that peaked about 1850 (oddly when all the climate graphs start) I might believe it. It's also well known the natural cycles that are causing warming are due to end in the 2030s, just the right time for them to pretend their net zero garage saved us.

It's just a massive cult that's taking over the world, the same as any other religion has over the centuries. It's just spread quicker with modern communications & with how many of the rich have found a way to use it to get richer. Yes, I'm looking at the WEF & so forth there.


/tinfoil hat

[Phill P]

Personally I believe we probably have done something to assist in global warming, however and this is a big however, as already said the earth's temperature does fluctuate and let's just say we didn't invent the internal combustion engine and or jet engines, plastics etc etc etc, all the modern things we all like, what sort of place would we live in, Horses and maybe bicycles, very poor medical. We'd be moaning about that. I do laugh when they say our petrol cars or diesel are so bad for the environment whilst they fly over in a jumbo jet. And providing Mr Putin doesn't going nuking the place the earth will still be here whatever, we may not be here but the planet will continue, we are but a blip in the timeline of this place.

[Hooli]

I'm sure stuff like deforestation, desertification, plastics in the ocean etc etc are a lot more damaging than a tiny bit of harmless plant food gas. But it's easier to tax the gas without affecting your mate's profits isn't it?

[Tony Nitrous]

We've had a few days of light rain here and we're loving it.

No mains water, but our tanks are all full again (141,000 ltrs) the paddocks are green again, veggies and new trees going well, lots of wildlife out.

I Have a heap of parts and service items stashed away so it's looking like I'll be getting more shed time and less riding for the near future.

I did take the Busa into the city to get a little job done on it, weather was light sizzle but it was an excuse to try the safe and sensible mode which was funny as I couldn't make it misbehave. Cleaning it will take longer than the trip into the city.

[Notty]

A few weeks back I got a call from a mate suggesting the day looked good for a short run out. It would be the last one of the year together as Steve wraps up his bike for the winter.

I suggested a run out into Shropshire as there was a castle I wanted to visit and the route out there would provide good roads for motorcycling. All went well until we left Craven Arms and turned toward Clun but as I lead us south toward Clungunford we came across "Road Closed" signs. Being the optimist, I gave the barriers a bit of a swerve and tried to push on, but sure enough I found the road completely flooded and was forced back onto the B4368. Carrying on toward Aston on Clun, I spotted another sign for Clungunford and decided to give it a try, but it just bought us back out at the road closure barriers.

Back onto the B4368 again then I reached the village of Purslow and found another signed left turn enticing me. We probably got a mile down this one before we found it impassable and once again was forced into a 180-degree turn. Thankfully I was on the Z1000 which is a light enough bike to do this sort of thing, turning the GTR would probably have needed help from Steve and three or four farm labourers.
In the end the planned destination was abandoned and we settled for a coffee and BLT baguette at a pub in Clun. Some of the locals seemed surprised "tourists" had got through and were asking us where we had come from, I think some believed they were completely cut of – certainly, as we left the pub and glanced down toward the town's bridge all we could see were the parapets above the flooded river and an abandoned pick-up truck impersonating a swan.

To cap off a frustrating day we got hit with rain that the BBC had failed to forecast for our run home. Steve had a much harder clean down on his baby than he was expecting before tucking it up.

Roll on a couple of weeks and I decided to go for a short run on the Z1000 again as the GSX is currently out of reach. I knew very well it had been raining a lot over the last few days (Storm Bert) but there were no big issues at home and as I was only planning a few miles I set out with no preparation and an innocent smile.

A brief stop in Bewdley revealed the River Severn was looking quite high, but well below the flood defences. I pushed on toward Tenbury Wells in yet another shower on a supposedly dry day. Pulling up in Tenbury for a coffee I was confronted with flashing blue lights at the far end of the main street and "Road Closed" signs barring my intended destination. A quick chat with the natives when I bought my coffee confirmed there was no chance of getting through on the Bromyard road, so once again The Environment had stuck its boot on the neck of my ride out.



It wasn't until I got home and caught the national news that I realised how bad things were, specifically in Tenbury. The main river through the town (The Teme) hadn't breached, but a smaller river (The Kyre Brook) at the other end of town had washed away its retaining wall. Video on the news showed the effect of some inconsiderate agricultural type driving a tractor through the flood and adding to the already considerable damage with his bow-wave.



Which brings me on to Climate Change – now, some of you may be mentally switching off at this point, I know I have started to do so. The dreaded CC is being forcibly inserted into every documentary or news item these days (in the same way that every drama has to have one woman in a position of power, a minimum of one person of an ethnic persuasion, a character with a disability and one or two that are implied Gay if not overtly so. I now sit in front of my TV every evening ticking them off, I can't settle down into the plot until I've got them all).

I believe the climate is changing, I'm not a "denier" but I also believe that the climate and planet have always changed. Even if humankind was not around, the planet and climate will change. Go to Wrens Nest Nature reserve on a hill near Dudley and you will find fossils showing it was once a tropical sea bed. The isle of Wight used to be connected to mainland Britain – The Needles on the IOW and Old Harry Rocks in Dorset reveal the point of connection. England was linked to France years before the channel tunnel was constructed and none of this change was due to industrialisation or human CO2 emissions.

If there is a way of producing cheaper, cleaner energy, I'm all for it. Despite this, some bloke from Stourbridge going for a blast on an orange Kawasaki for the shear joy of it is probably not helping. I think it makes little or no difference. We are going to have to live with change whatever and just make sure we are more prepared.



Stay out of the deep stuff.

Pete.

We used to build moats to keep the English out! now we rely on nature 

[Tony Nitrous]

One of the buildings just out of shot to your left used to belong the Ince family, the local funeral directors.

One day a little girl fell off the riverside and down into the River Severn.  Ince being there at the time dived in and saved her.

Later someone later made to comment "You lost a customer there Mate"

Ince Replied "Don't worry, I get them all in the end".

[grog]

Good story Tony👍

[VladTepes]

Thanks for the post @Rynglieder that was an enjoyable read. 

[Rynglieder]

[

We used to build moats to keep the English out! now we rely on nature 
[/quote]

And now you're trying to put us off coming with your 20mph speed limits

I'm not falling for it though, there's usually still a nice ride available avoiding the towns.