IPSGA

I was riding pillion on a motorbike. It was a light, sporty middleweight, painted black. I didn't know the rider. He was following another bike, quite similar (perhaps even identical - I couldn't tell from where I was sat!). That bike was being ridden solo, again by someone I didn't know.

We were going through a residential area, at considerable (but legal) speed. I was extremely nervous though. For one, he was all over the place. At one point, he was riding on a cycling track instead of the road. I saw the end of the cycling track coming up. Between the cycling track and the road was a grassy area, lined with trees on the right. I was scared we were going to crash, but didn't move for fear of unsettling the bike.

We didn't crash - he expertly turned the bike at the right moment to use a driveway that cut across the grass, and an adjoining area which was basically mud from where the grass had been ripped off, presumably from whoever used that driveway, while turning on to the road. We continued at the same speed on the road, which gently curved to the right while going slightly downhill.

Slightly ahead, as the road straightened out, we passed a boy who had stopped his cycle on the footpath to talk to another boy who was standing on a pedestrian island. Again, I was very nervous as the rider didn't slow down at all. 

A few seconds later, the rider we were following pulled into a petrol station and we followed him in. We stopped and before I even dismounted the bike I told him that was unacceptably dangerous riding. He was surprised and asked me to explain. I broke down both the situations and told him both were extremely dangerous, besides riding on the cycle track being downright illegal. 

He asked me how I would evaluate each situation and what I would do differently. 

I mentioned the "IPSGA" framework used by the IAM (Institute of Advanced Motorcyclists) and broke down each of the alphabet in the acronym:

I = information. What information is available to assess the safety of the situation and what hazards may present themselves 

P = position. how do I position the bike within the legally available space on the road to minimise risk 

S = speed. what speed is appropriate for the situation approaching

G = gear. which gear should the motorbike be in to maximise flexibility for the situation 

A = acceleration. at what stage is it safe to accelerate and how much acceleration is appropriate 

And that's when I woke up. 

Rescuing Boats at Carrickfergus

12th September: Friends suggested heading to Carrickfergus Castle for the European weekend (free entry, yay!)

13th September:

Shruti and I had gone to Carrickfergus on the motorbike - it was late morning on an overcast day. We parked some distance from the castle and walked the rest of the way, along the shore road. We passed a local fishmonger. As we were about to enter the shop, we saw Simon and Akshay about to enter too. We said hi and entered together. They said they were going to fry fish for lunch after visiting the castle and asked if we wanted to join them. We agreed, and I tried to decide which fish I wanted. The fishmonger named all the fish available and I picked one - it was a small, mackerel sized fish, but the skin was much darker. The fishmonger wrapped it in butter paper and I left the shop with it. As we got further along the shore road towards Carrickfergus, the wind picked up and it got almost stormy. The sea looked really rough, with massive waves. The side of the road didn't have a wall, but instead had mooring posts. The sea had reached close to the kevel of the wall, and the tops of the crashing waves surpassed it - the road wasn't waterlogged though. We had been walking on the opposite side of the road to stay away from the rough sea.

Suddenly, there were shouts calling us to help and I saw a fishing boat being pushed by the sea towards the road. There were a couple of men on board, ready with ropes to tie the boat. They said they'd need help to prevent the boat from being pushed away from the shore and dragged away to danger. As soon as the boat got close, they leapt off and we helped them in this tug-of-war with the sea while they secured the boat.

Thoroughly exhausted and a little damp, we decided to skip the castle and head indoors to warm up and fry some fish. The house didn't look like it was set in Carrickfergus though - the insides were more like Tushar's dad's apartment, although the kitchen was its mirror image. I popped a beer from the fridge (a Carlsberg) and said I'd wait for the others to fry their fish before I got to mine.

And that's when I woke up.

Simon and Akshay had messaged while I was asleep saying they couldn't come to Carrickfergus as they were not in town. We ended up going to the Downpatrick railway museum instead, as we had already been to Carrickfergus Castle a few years ago. It was a great day out... and no storms!