Interesting Guy

General discussion of skirt and kilt-based fashion for men, and stuff that goes with skirts and kilts.
Post Reply
User avatar
crfriend
Master Barista
Posts: 14431
Joined: Fri Nov 19, 2004 9:52 pm
Location: New England (U.S.)
Contact:

Re: Interesting Guy

Post by crfriend »

I love the road-signs, Tom. It's certainly best to have a plan mapped out in advance before hitting either of those intersections.

Oddly, we have one of those here in Massachusetts, but few -- if any -- actually realise it. Interstate 95 courses more or less north/south between Maine and Florida with a notable exception at Boston, MA. There it courses circularly and to the west (east being aqueous) around most of the metropolis. Simultaneously, running right through Boston is Interstate 93, which is rather inconveniently several miles distant from I-95 at either end of Boston. This leads to a situation where one is travelling north on I-95 and is faced with a large traffic-junction (which wedges solid each and every morning at rush-hour [0]) where to go north on I-95 one must make a "logical left" and to go north on I-93 one must make a "logical right" -- save for the fact that each direction taken literally is west and east, respectively. (The conundrum repeats again to the north of Boston, but in the other orientation.)

One needs to study a map to really "get it", but it's funny nonetheless.


[0] "Why do they call it 'rush hour' when nothing moves?"
Retrocomputing -- It's not just a job, it's an adventure!
User avatar
r.m.anderson
Member Extraordinaire
Posts: 2601
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 6:25 pm
Location: Burnsville MN USA

Re: Interesting Guy

Post by r.m.anderson »

Ah the USA Interstate highway system started under the leadership of President Eisenhower.
Ike had noted how the Germans had traffic moving on the Autobahns and its success.

The USA Interstate highways are numbered in even numbers for East-West travel
Starting with I 10 in the south to I 90 in the north for full length coast to coast travel
Minor short distance spurs such as I 4 - I 8 parallel these highways
For South-North travel highways are numbered in odd numbers starting with I 5 in the
west and ending with the previously mentioned I 95 in the east for border to border travel
And again minor short distance spurs such as I 87 - I 91 and I 93 in the east

Adding an Odd number in front of the original highway is a spur that does not connect back
with the that original highway - this be for even an E-W HY or a S-N HY example follows:
Adding an Even number in front of the original highway is a loop back to the original highway
EXAMPLE: I 94 goes through Minnesota (Minneapolis/St Paul)
adding a 4 to 94 it becomes 494 and is the southern loop around the cities
adding a 6 to 94 it becomes 694 and is the northern loop around the cities
adding a 3 to 94 it becomes 394 and is a spur to the west of the city of Minneapolis
Sometimes instead of even odd digit there will simply be a letter N E S W
Splitting the two cities above I 35 running from Texas to Lake Superior going through
St Paul it is I 35E and through Minneapolis I 35W

The old numbering system - I won't go into that the Interstate system has enough quirks to
confuse even the most religious GPS user - that I 93 in Boston for instance.

Of note Only Alaska does not have Interstate highways then how come Hawaii has them ?
Hawaii has three Interstate highways numbered H1 - H2 and H3 built with federal funds and
while not connected by a land mass (the lower 48) Hawaii is connected by interstate commerce
over sea lanes

So this has been a bit of a skirted diversion away from the topic of INTERESTING GUY -
interesting enough as to how you guys get around wearing your skirted wear in the USA.
"YES SKIRTING MATTERS"!
"Kilt-On" -or- as the case may be "Skirt-On" !
WHY ?
Isn't wearing a kilt enough?
Well a skirt will do in a pinch!
Make mine short and don't you dare think of pinching there !
User avatar
beachlion
Member Extraordinaire
Posts: 1627
Joined: Wed Aug 14, 2013 3:15 am
Location: 65 year The Hague, The Netherlands, then Allentown, PA, USA

Re: Interesting Guy

Post by beachlion »

Ray wrote:Beachlion, that’s one of the higher passes. I’ve not done any yet but Alp d’Huez and Ventoux are on my bucket list. I’ve done Majorca’s Sa Calobra - that’s fabulous fun - but not when you have to climb two passes just to get there. 92km of riding saw me climb 3,400m!
I tried the Mont Ventoux but I was too early. Only the road from the south to the top with the observatory was open. The north section was "Route Barrée" but I found out when I arrived at the top.
Dia0800q.jpg
Dia0801q.jpg
The good thing of climbing the mountains is the ride down. On long straight stretches I passed cars and could look in the car at the speedometer to see how fast I was going. Sometimes over 80 km/h. But then I was much younger. ;)
Dia0875q.jpg
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
All progress takes place outside the comfort zone - M J Bobak
Ray
Member Extraordinaire
Posts: 1733
Joined: Fri Oct 24, 2003 7:03 am
Location: West Midlands, England, UK

Re: Interesting Guy

Post by Ray »

Fabulous pics! All credit to you for trying Ventoux such conditions.

Mainland Europe has the hills to hit big speeds downhill. It’s harder in the U.K. I can hit about 85kph on several hills - but going faster is very hard. My ambition is to hit 100kph. I’ll slow down thereafter!
FranTastic444
Member Extraordinaire
Posts: 569
Joined: Fri Jun 08, 2018 1:47 am
Location: Boston, MA

Re: Interesting Guy

Post by FranTastic444 »

Continuing the current off-topic meander (hoping that as Mark is a confirmed petrolhead and a cyclist that we will be forgiven here)....

RM - I was not aware of the rationale behind the road numbering system in the US and this explains why what I think of as the inner ringroad around Boston (the I95) has what I think of as an outer ringroad (the I495). There is a Wiki page describing the road numbering system in the UK..

I live very near to the northern part of that I93 / I95 road split that Carl describes. I jump on and off the I95 at various points and hate the fact that the road signs do not use north / south descriptions. I have to remember whether I want to be heading towards or away from Peabody or Waltham, depending upon where I join the road.

As Ray will know, when heading north through the West Midlands of England, you get to a point near Hockley Heath where you have to decide to go in the left lane to go right which will take you counter clockwise around Birmingham (M40, M42, M6) or go in the right lane (more straight on than anything) to go clockwise around Brum (M40, M42, M5, M6). Both are about the same distance and it was always a gamble as to which would be the best route on any given day / time. This decision is made easier these days by having devices that can pick up on realtime traffic data.

Ray - where do you hit such bonkers speeds in the UK? I have driven many of the UK 'passes' (Hardknott, Wrynose, Applecross etc.) but never fancied trying it on a bike. I know a guy who has done 'The Fred' a couple of times (self induced misery :-) )
User avatar
crfriend
Master Barista
Posts: 14431
Joined: Fri Nov 19, 2004 9:52 pm
Location: New England (U.S.)
Contact:

Re: Interesting Guy

Post by crfriend »

FranTastic444 wrote:I live very near to the northern part of that I93 / I95 road split that Carl describes. I jump on and off the I95 at various points and hate the fact that the road signs do not use north / south descriptions. I have to remember whether I want to be heading towards or away from Peabody or Waltham, depending upon where I join the road.
That's partly because it wasn't always I-95. The circumferential (partly) ring around Boston was originally State Route 128 (and a whole lot of older locals still call it that) and whilst it had putative North and South designations those were only general and existed solely because the thing can't extend into Massachusetts Bay (if it did, we'd have a full ring). I-95 was originally plotted to go through Boston but that got scuppered in the 1960s due to enormous civic opposition and the (mistaken) belief that the "T" [0] would be useful enough to handle the commuting load into the city; thus I-95 was discontinuous at Boston. Sometime in the late 1980s or so I-95 signs started appearing along 128 and on the approaches to, so that's around when it got re-badged (nobody noticed and continued to call it "one twenty-eight" into the mid naughties).

On cycling: I did it for several years before I got my driving-license, and have ridden one since then, but not for many decades. Where I live now is rather vertical, and if not vertical riding on the roads requires that one have a serious death-wish. One thing I was very impressed with about my recent trip to Colorado is the extent to which it's bicycle-accessible. There are bike-paths aplenty between Boulder and Denver (of course this is on the plains; I have no idea whether they even try in the mountains).

[0] aka the MBTA (Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority). It was called the MTA (Metropolitan Transit Authority) for a while (hence the song Charlie on the MTA) but that collided with New York's transit moniker and we couldn't really have that, now could we. That the "T" provides transit is a serendipitous but unanticipated by-product of political patronage.
Retrocomputing -- It's not just a job, it's an adventure!
FranTastic444
Member Extraordinaire
Posts: 569
Joined: Fri Jun 08, 2018 1:47 am
Location: Boston, MA

Re: Interesting Guy

Post by FranTastic444 »

Yes, I had the whole 95 / 128 moniker in mind when I started writing the post, but forgot to reference it. Depending upon which of our two cars I'm in and whether I'm using built-in GPS or one of three apps on my phone, the road may be referred to as 95 or 128 - the junction nearest me includes both designations.

One of my team has just returned to Boston after being out in Tucson for the last couple of years. The only thing he misses from being out west is the fantastic system of bike trails that they have there. The local MinuteMan trail here is a great way of getting to Arlington or Snailwife, but then getting into downtown Boston involves either a circuitous route which is mostly off road or a more direct route that is on road with certain sections nearer the city having a designated bike lane. I was working in London a while back and what they have done there with the bike super highways is impressive (though maybe not universally liked by motorists and peds).
User avatar
beachlion
Member Extraordinaire
Posts: 1627
Joined: Wed Aug 14, 2013 3:15 am
Location: 65 year The Hague, The Netherlands, then Allentown, PA, USA

Re: Interesting Guy

Post by beachlion »

If you like riding your bike then the Netherlands is your country. Together with Belgium they have set up a system of nodes for bike paths. With maps and/or a route planner you can find how to go from A to B by nodes. The bike paths nodes are numbered and a small map at each node will guide you in the right direction. I could not find English information on this subject but the pictures will give you some idea.
https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fietsroutenetwerk
All progress takes place outside the comfort zone - M J Bobak
User avatar
crfriend
Master Barista
Posts: 14431
Joined: Fri Nov 19, 2004 9:52 pm
Location: New England (U.S.)
Contact:

Re: Interesting Guy

Post by crfriend »

beachlion wrote:If you like riding your bike then the Netherlands is your country. [...] I could not find English information on this subject but the pictures will give you some idea.
https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fietsroutenetwerk
One of the things I find most vexing and sometimes infuriating is how close Dutch is to English. This is not surprising in the least as the two are very closely related linguistically. Still it bothers me that I can look at a page of Dutch and almost read it -- but not quite. (This is in no way a shot at the language or those who speak it, but rather an observation on how my brain works!)

"Fietsroutenetwerk" -- given the context and the similarities between the languages, and the amount of "linguistic borrowing" that goes on, that could only mean "Bicycle Route Network" (or, perhaps, "bike"). I'll bodge the thing through "Google Translate" in a bit, but I'm going to fight with it for a few more minutes.

I am given to understand that if one starts out in southeast England, crosses the Channel and lands in the Netherlands, and then travels at a leisurely pace eastwards one will find himself speaking German by the time he arrives there. ("Leisurely" here meaning at a walking pace or travelling by canal.) I should put that test on my "bucket list".
Retrocomputing -- It's not just a job, it's an adventure!
User avatar
beachlion
Member Extraordinaire
Posts: 1627
Joined: Wed Aug 14, 2013 3:15 am
Location: 65 year The Hague, The Netherlands, then Allentown, PA, USA

Re: Interesting Guy

Post by beachlion »

When you are sitting on your couch and read Dutch as an English speaking person, it looks not that outlandish. Being in the Netherlands is quite different. Understanding the language when it is spoken is more difficult and trying to answering it close to hopeless. You think the English has a lot of irrigularities, then try Dutch. Your head will spin. Dutch is in the group of the 20 most difficult languages and it is for a reason. Way above English. Now and then they try to "modernize" Dutch and it looks like they want a higher spot on the list. ;)
All progress takes place outside the comfort zone - M J Bobak
User avatar
r.m.anderson
Member Extraordinaire
Posts: 2601
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 6:25 pm
Location: Burnsville MN USA

Re: Interesting Guy

Post by r.m.anderson »

beachlion wrote:When you are sitting on your couch and read Dutch as an English speaking person, it looks not that outlandish. Being in the Netherlands is quite different. Understanding the language when it is spoken is more difficult and trying to answering it close to hopeless. You think the English has a lot of irrigularities, then try Dutch. Your head will spin. Dutch is in the group of the 20 most difficult languages and it is for a reason. Way above English. Now and then they try to "modernize" Dutch and it looks like they want a higher spot on the list. ;)
What you state is true - the same for the German (Deutsch) language with its high and low versions and the local use language.
Chinese as I understand is the same. What is school taught or by a language institute may suffice but will to the local establishment
reveal that you are certainly not from here - we don't speak that way here.

I was fortunate to have a liberal arts high school education and taking Latin (ugh who does that anymore) gave an introduction to the romance languages.
Move north of the Alps and the language changes like a whole new Tower of Babel - move east to the Steppes of Russian and another tower is encountered.
Leave the romance world and follow Marco Polo to a whole different wall of towers in China and then there is the tower of Mecca in the Arabian peninsula.

Certainly one common language we will not speak but it is amazing the strides that the computer translation is doing to get the message across:
Google - Babelfish - Bing are just some of the services available and the diplomatic corps absolutely positively have to speak the language overnight !

This forum is blessed to have some members who speak a second or third language - and thank you very much for your contribution and participation !

I believe the movement here is to have as many skirt wearing members as possible in all countries (as long as you don't lose your head because of it).
I don't like to think of the soap box of being a scaffold for other purposes.

Skirt wearing is coming about but not as fast as the language translation.
"YES SKIRTING MATTERS"!
"Kilt-On" -or- as the case may be "Skirt-On" !
WHY ?
Isn't wearing a kilt enough?
Well a skirt will do in a pinch!
Make mine short and don't you dare think of pinching there !
Gusto10
Member Extraordinaire
Posts: 928
Joined: Mon Aug 17, 2015 12:07 pm

Re: Interesting Guy

Post by Gusto10 »

beachlion wrote:
Ray wrote:Beachlion, that’s one of the higher passes. I’ve not done any yet but Alp d’Huez and Ventoux are on my bucket list. I’ve done Majorca’s Sa Calobra - that’s fabulous fun - but not when you have to climb two passes just to get there. 92km of riding saw me climb 3,400m!
I tried the Mont Ventoux but I was too early. Only the road from the south to the top with the observatory was open. The north section was "Route Barrée" but I found out when I arrived at the top.
Dia0800q.jpg
Dia0801q.jpg
The good thing of climbing the mountains is the ride down. On long straight stretches I passed cars and could look in the car at the speedometer to see how fast I was going. Sometimes over 80 km/h. But then I was much younger. ;)
Dia0875q.jpg
A photo of the Mont Ventoux taken last week from some distance
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
User avatar
skirtyscot
Member Extraordinaire
Posts: 3448
Joined: Thu Aug 04, 2011 10:44 pm
Location: West Kilbride, Ayrshire, Scotland
Contact:

Re: Interesting Guy

Post by skirtyscot »

Alpine passes are impressively high. Based on my experience at the top of the public road in the Sierra Nevada (the Spanish one), which IIRC is about 2600m, and where a 15 minute walk up to a wee snow patch left me breathless, I don't think I'd like to try cycling to that altitude.

I did manage to cycle up Scotland's hardest climb, the Bealach na Ba, this year. It's about 2000 feet, but owing to the start being at sea level, the summit is rather lower than the Ventoux's 2770m/9000+ feet. So the oxygen supply is an awful lot better.
Keep on skirting,

Alastair
User avatar
beachlion
Member Extraordinaire
Posts: 1627
Joined: Wed Aug 14, 2013 3:15 am
Location: 65 year The Hague, The Netherlands, then Allentown, PA, USA

Re: Interesting Guy

Post by beachlion »

To be honest, climbing those mountains was not always in the saddle. Steep tracts I did walking. Most of the time that is as fast as doing it in very low gear. ;) My main problem was finding a place to sleep. In the mountains it is difficult to find your hotel Sous les Étoiles. ;)
Dia0844q.jpg
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
All progress takes place outside the comfort zone - M J Bobak
Ray
Member Extraordinaire
Posts: 1733
Joined: Fri Oct 24, 2003 7:03 am
Location: West Midlands, England, UK

Re: Interesting Guy

Post by Ray »

Fran - various places. Shropshire has a nice one near Stamford Bridge. I hit 51mph without pedalling on my old steel bike. It’s a possible 60mph hill. Ditto one in Northumberland where I hit 51 before seeing a Z bend sign. That was scary! There are several in Scotland. Forget the Lake District - the roads are too bumpy.

Skirtyscot - Ventoux is 1912m. It’s still hell to climb by all accounts. Chapeau on doing the Bealach. That’s a hill and then some...
Post Reply