Manners matter

Yes, my friends, politeness does count! Here in Britain, the Brits are soooo polite. They apologize constantly for the weather and even wait for us to get past a puddle before they drive through it. In the states, drivers seem to get a sick pleasure out of hitting us with muddy water. Also, they drive much faster here, but they seem to be better drivers. Not even once has a driver cut me off by passing and then turning in front of me. Also, they always see us coming and never pull out in front of us. One of our B&B hosts told us that there is a TV public service announcement here that encouragages drivers to "THINK BIKE", asking drivers to be sure to look for cyclists as well as cars before they pull out onto the road. Many of the roads we have been riding on between cities are narrow one lane country lanes, with bushes right up to the road on either side - there is NO berm on these roads. If a car approaches, they slow way down and so do we, and we squeeze by each other, each of us offering a friendly wave of thanks. What a pleasure it is!!