Thursday, July 13, 2006

Jaguar XK: Nice Car, Shame About The Driver

Sometimes you spot a car in traffic and even though you travel at different speeds, you meet more than once on the same journey.

I was riding down the road as normal, say 15-20mph with cars overtaking me conventionally - at a steady speed with plenty of room between bike & car. Set in a built-up, urban, 30mph area.

All of a sudden I hear a roar of a 4.2 litre V8 engine, and some num-nut in a Jaguar XK tore past at excess speed and once passed me, had to brake to avoid hitting normal cars driving properly in front.

It wasn't a particularly dangerous action, just a quite pointless one.

His motivation was to demonstrate some intimidation & dominance with this "look at me" manoeuvre.

Probably on his way to work in the city, to sell guns to 5-year-old Ethiopians or something.

After stopping at a few red traffic lights and filtering passed yet more traffic jams, who did I encounter? Mr XK again!

Personally I am really not at all bothered about comparisons, childish races, or silly interpretations of loosing-face. It was the fact Mr XK attached so much importance to being ahead of a cyclist which made me laugh.

I rode past queued traffic as normal, and the Jaguar was ahead. But when I loomed in his mirrors, he began subtly weaving to discourage me from overtaking him. Strange.

Anyway, as he slowed for the very next traffic jam, I coasted effortlessly passed his £50,000 vehicle. To me, it's just one of many obstacles to safely navigate, in my daily jigsaw puzzle of a commute. But to him it represented eternal shame and damnation! Fool.

The XK has a limiter which restricts its top speed to 155mph. The last I saw of it, the Jaguar was limited by reality, to an impressive 0 mph.




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