I was amused this morning to read a thread on the main forum page about preparing one's pedelec for winter. Thoughts of winter seem so far away as I am enjoying 32C heat near Spanish Town, Jamaica today; in the shade and with a fan blowing; long sleeves and trousers to keep the mossies off.
Also I am armed with the Dictonary of Jamaican Patois purchased from Kitchenman last year - Thanks. However the accent can be hard to follow making it difficult to distinguish the word one needs to look up.
No sigth of ebikes here. A web search has not revealed any on sale here.
Ordinary push bikes are ridden here rather slowly in the heat. What is ineteresting given the paranoia on this forum about driving and riding standards in UK, is the customary practice by road users here.
Bicycles may be ridden on either side of the road. It is quite interesting on a narrow road to occasionally encounter bicycles coming towards on both sides of the road at the same time! There is usually room in the middle to drive the hire car between them. But when a "route taxi" is also coming towards you, you just have to stop and let them take their course.
The "route taxis" overtake and push in front of you (braking to let them in is necessary. Then they stop suddenly in the road to pick up a passenger).
So far I have seen:
Cyclists dont wear helmets here but perhaps 30% of motor cyclists do wear them.
Road signs are often faded out in the sun, or just missing - they have the same problem from metal thieves that we have. I think at he moment the export of metal to China is banned, but they are thinking of opening it up again - perhaps to help the econonomic situation. The country is inline for an IMF inspection prior to another bailout loan.
There is a magnificent Toll road which runs for about 30 miles near here. Built by the French it costs about £3. Nearly deserted and a pleasure to drive -- not a pothole to be seen. Most roads have potholes. A few places even have potholes in the potholes where you risk grounding or at least scraping, so watch out for on coming traffic dodging potholes on their side.
I am managing driving fine in the day. But I have drawn a line at night driving.
I could talk about the pleasures of the country, but this is a moan about the absence of ebikes and the state of the road traffic.
Also I am armed with the Dictonary of Jamaican Patois purchased from Kitchenman last year - Thanks. However the accent can be hard to follow making it difficult to distinguish the word one needs to look up.
No sigth of ebikes here. A web search has not revealed any on sale here.
Ordinary push bikes are ridden here rather slowly in the heat. What is ineteresting given the paranoia on this forum about driving and riding standards in UK, is the customary practice by road users here.
Bicycles may be ridden on either side of the road. It is quite interesting on a narrow road to occasionally encounter bicycles coming towards on both sides of the road at the same time! There is usually room in the middle to drive the hire car between them. But when a "route taxi" is also coming towards you, you just have to stop and let them take their course.
The "route taxis" overtake and push in front of you (braking to let them in is necessary. Then they stop suddenly in the road to pick up a passenger).
So far I have seen:
- The remains of one partial head on collision - both front off sdie wings destroyed - probably an overtaking near head-on.
- A small truck half over a wall into a river gorge being pulled out by a breakdown turck
- Numerous spectators at the scene of a dead body being recovered from the same gorge (presumably not a traffic accident but something else)
- I have lost count of the number of vehicles stopped for tyre changes
Cyclists dont wear helmets here but perhaps 30% of motor cyclists do wear them.
Road signs are often faded out in the sun, or just missing - they have the same problem from metal thieves that we have. I think at he moment the export of metal to China is banned, but they are thinking of opening it up again - perhaps to help the econonomic situation. The country is inline for an IMF inspection prior to another bailout loan.
There is a magnificent Toll road which runs for about 30 miles near here. Built by the French it costs about £3. Nearly deserted and a pleasure to drive -- not a pothole to be seen. Most roads have potholes. A few places even have potholes in the potholes where you risk grounding or at least scraping, so watch out for on coming traffic dodging potholes on their side.
I am managing driving fine in the day. But I have drawn a line at night driving.
I could talk about the pleasures of the country, but this is a moan about the absence of ebikes and the state of the road traffic.