09/02/15

A bright sunny day with a frost first thing which dissipated by about eight, except for the shaded areas.  I wasn't loaded so first job was to load for the day.  Only three drops to go on but still it was nearly a full load.  Before starting for my first drop I had to call into our Gate Helmsley store to collect two bags of horse feed that we didn't have in at base.. At last I could get going.  The first drop was at Bolton Percy and was the last part of an order that I had delivered on Friday, we were awaiting the final item.  The drop took me well off route, not happy, but there's a time to put up and shut up.  The second drop was Carlton store, followed by a farm drop at Newport.  All done by the time my break was due, it all toook longer than I would have liked but that's life.  Then I had to make a collection at Howden Dyke of nearly ten tonnes of fertilizer, not a bad place to collect from, the loading staff are good and the wait isn't usually too long, today was no exception.  The load was to be dropped with the customer, just South of Chop Gate.  The drive was a little slippery and I had to put my diff lock in three times to make it into the yard.  When I finally managed to get into the yard the unloading went well and I was back on the road just after four and back at base just after five.  But looking back on the day I'm dissatisfied, I don't seem to have achieved much for a such a long day.  I was listening to suggestions for the safety of cyclists on the roads of North Yorkshire on the radio.  The thing coming over loud and clear was the need for high visibility clothing and good lighting.  I saw a case in point today.  I came up behind a cyclist today, from the back he was all in grey and not easy to see.  It wasn't until I was along side him that I realised that he was wearing a high vis jacket.  The idiot had put a large rucksack over the high vis jacket.   I suspect it's something to do with all that lycra it must squeeze out all the brains.  See you tomorrow.