Went to Marks Hall Arboretum in the hope of a good walk and some autumn colours. Leaf fall still far from over, lots of yellow-gold but not much red around. Probably too late for that to develop now.
Not a good driving day for me. Started by going out with the wrong glasses on - had to go back to change them. Then, on the way back there's what's always a tricky right turn onto a dual carriageway. There was a combination of bright low sun affecting visibility, someone stopped to give way on his "outside" lane (it is marked!), someone else coming up his "inside" lane that I just didn't see (perhaps blocked at the critical moment by the car giving way, and - of all unlikely things - a cyclist riding towards me on the wrong carriageway. I made my turn and then crossed into the inside lane too soon, getting some angry horn and sharp braking from the car I hadn't seen. And should have seen, or waited for. My mistake, no question about it. Then, with my mind still on that, I took a wrong turn off a roundabout and nearly went wrong again on another one. Despite the sat-nav. Some thinking is needed - maybe I need to remember that at 72 I'm older than I was and need to adjust my driving style a bit. And there is the disease and the meds to consider. It was a dex morning and I've noticed recently that the sleeplessness is much better than it was but there's an element of "dex mania" taking its place. Perhaps that played a part.
This is what to avoid!
I have never held a driver's licence but for years got around for short distances on a number of bikes. When I was about 72, I avoided extremely narrowly having an altercation with a vehicle emerging from a side street. I had the right of way but it was enough to persuade me that my ability to react quickly was not what it had been, and I decided to stop riding. I'm not suggesting you should stop driving, but I offer this anecdote as evidence that 72-year-olds perhaps need, as you offered, to slow down a bit!
ReplyDeleteYes, I think you're right. I certainly need to take more care on difficult junctions like that one.
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