The Wales Rally GB were around near our village last week. It doesn’t usually affect me as I tend to stick to the main roads once winter weather starts coming in but this year it co-incided with a week when I was heading over to Mach for Write Club on Thursday evening and to avoid the roads the rally uses would involve a ludicrously long diversion…
I wasn’t 100% sure even when I turned on to the road if it was open or not. The “Residents Only” and “Spectators this way” signs had gone up on Monday, and everything was set ready for them to spring into action, but I had looked up the previous evening & found the stages by us would be on Saturday. So I headed home the usual route with my fingers crossed.
It’s quite a fun road, that one. Single track, through the forestry land, past various small holdings, over the bailey bridge*, and along the edge of the valley. I know it fairly well, having lived here for just over 7 years now; but on Thursday I kept being thrown by the temporary signage.
“SLOW!” the signs proclaimed at every bend, corner and hairpin.
“Of course I’m going to slow down! It’s a bend!” I muttered to myself, wondering who on earth wouldn’t slow down when approaching a bend, especially on a single-track road with no line of sight past the bend.
It wasn’t until I came to the sign reminding drivers that “This is a 2-way road!” that it clicked.
I *know* it’s a 2-way road. I will always assume a single-track road is 2-way and I may well meet someone coming towards me. The signs weren’t for me. I doubt they were for any visiting spectators. They were for the competitors. Who would have come straight off the single track, forestry road special stage, having been focused on driving as fast and best they can, safe in the knowledge there *wouldn’t* be anything coming towards them because the road has been closed for the competition.
So I finished my drive home with the little reminder that just because *I* know something doesn’t mean *you* do.
*having just looked up about bailey bridges to link to info, I’m not entirely sure it is one! That’s what we all call it though. It’s a bridge that looks temporary-ish, is constructed of squared-off logs chained together, and floats on the surface of the river.