Who’s riding today? Who’s watching TV?

[Howz]

UK…We have a day off today due to the Queens funeral, just wondering who will be out riding and who will be watching the funeral?

edit: Although I have every respect for our late Queen, I’m going riding..for an hour or so.

 

[Doomanic]

My shoulder is fucked so I’m not riding. Will be trawling Netflix and Prime for stuff I haven’t seen yet.

 

[The Hodge]

Not that I have a lack of respect for the Queen and I'm grateful for everything that she has done ..but I won't be sitting in front of the TV wallowing in misery ...

 

[chrismechmaster]

I am working as I have no one to ride with

 

[Zimmerframe]

Not riding ..

The local hunters were also sadly avoiding the TV option so I ended up aborting.

 

[RustyMTB]

Juts had a test burn to work out whether the squelch noise from my fork was the rebound circuit or a bad damper bleed. It's the rebound & therefore normal. I remain a diy suspension servicing genius. Time to pad up & get out. There will only be cheery republicans blocking up the trails today.

 

[Hobo Mikey]

Just driven back from Dirt Farm area to the Gower and the roads are empty.

 

[Peaky Rider]

Well I'm being totally uncool and watching it and very moving and spectacular it is too.

 

[Jurassic]

I'm watching the funeral involuntarily at the moment (due to other family members watching in the same room) but I'm going for a spin on my gravel bike this afternoon. Don't think the queen will mind.

 

[Stihldog]

Watching the Queens funeral then going for a ride.
My wife has been watching since 1:00am(our time) and I joined her at 2:30am. I. Was proud to hear that the RCMP led the procession.

I know that there are many countries represented and I know that this is a moment in history. It’s a must watch for us.

 

[Stoffel]

I can ride anytime. I’m pleased to have stayed in and watched the funeral, it was magnificent. 🫡

 

[Interpaul]

"Dressing up" for the elite - not for me thanks.

Working today (by choice) but would have preferred to be out in my local hills as I was at the weekend.

 

[The Hodge]

Fantastic few hours in the Cheviot Hills this afternoon ..the best way to celebrate a life of someone who had a deep love of the countryside

 

[steve_sordy]

Unlike those who thought they might be wallowing in misery; I found the occasion very uplifting. Not that the old girl was dead was uplifting, far from it! I just thought that the occasion was a superb display of historically meaningful pageantry, a joyous celebration of the sort of stuff that we do really well. And the buildings! To have churches and castles that are a thousand years old and in continuous use in a major city is astonishing! We have loads of them of course, not just Westminster Abbey and Windsor Castle. The display of precision and discipline by all the troops concerned was somehow very satisfying. I had a lump in my throat on more than one occasion. At St George's chapel in Windsor Castle, the Scots piper who played "Sleep Dearie Sleep" as he slowly walked away from the coffin was mesmerising. He carried on playing and the sound gradually faded into a silence that was maintained by the congregation. Spellbinding.

I didn't bother with any coverage other than that from the BBC. I know they are a bunch of liberal lefties that given the chance will denigrate our history and our achievements, but on this occasion, they set all that aside. They remembered that they are the British Broadcasting Corporation! They did it superbly well. I only wish that they would keep it up.

We were told that over 4 billion people would be tuning in; I wonder how they knew that? I would love to know what people from other countries thought of it.

 

[MountainBoy]

We were told that over 4 billion people would be tuning in; I wonder how they knew that? I would love to know what people from other countries thought of it.

Since you asked, here what I thought about it:

I ignored it. I've never been able to wrap my head around "being born into royalty". I was brought up being taught that everyone is born equal, with equal opportunity, and life is what you make of it. That's always made good sense to me even if it's not perfectly true, I think it's an ideal we should strive for. I find it about as repugnant as arranged marriages. But it doesn't really concern me so I just don't pay much attention to it. If I were a Brit, who knows what I would think about it, but I'm sure there are some on the other side of the Pond that see it as I do. That celebrated positions should be earned, not granted by birthright. It just seems weird, especially since the justification is "that's how we've always done it".

 

[steve_sordy]

@MountainBoy Well, I did ask! Thanks very much for taking the time to reply. I can understand your view, and as you rightly say there will be others in the UK that will stand with you. I mean given a clean slate, who would invent a monarchy?

There is certainly an element of "that's how we've always done it" about the Royal family. It can appear that if something was done once by a monarch 5-600 years ago then it will always be done until the end of time. But back then, that was something new and was done for the first time, and so it continues. The gun carriage towed by sailors was done for the first time for Queen Victoria's funeral and was so popular it was continued. Letting the great unwashed into the coronation was first done for Queen Elizabeth's coronation and further innovations followed. Innovations that were seen as of their time (and about time for some), but done for the first time none the less. These things continue, as they should.

The thing about the monarchy is that they remind us of our past and link us to it, despite the reforming nature of here-today-gone-tomorrow politicians (and some of our media). In the UK, there is an enormous amount of past to remember; our most precious laws go back a thousand years and I have no doubt that some of the most important laws to do with freedom in the USA were based upon the laws established in the UK 700 years before your country was founded.

There were several articles in the UK press last week about the benefit of our constitutional monarchy. In financial terms, the actual cost is less than the benefits brought in tourism and so forth. Also, tax is paid on some parts of the Royal Estates. But those are the minor benefits in my opinion. A slightly larger benefit is the so-called "soft power". There is no doubt that the Queen could host a dinner, or whisper in someone's ear, and somehow the deal for 100 Tornado jets was done, or the prisoner was released and so forth.... But for me the largest benefit of the monarchy is this. The most stable counties in the world have constitutional monarchies, the least stable have Republics. A famous and much revered Australian, Clive James, was asked to contribute to the debate on monarchy vs republic for Australia. He banged on a bit, but his key point was (from memory, I haven't Googled it) was that "under the monarchy you are free and your rights are protected, be very careful that what you replace it with will be better." The subsequent vote to become a Republic was lost.

 

[Doomanic]

There is no doubt that the Queen could host a dinner, or whisper in someone's ear,

Yeah, it's amazing what a quiet word in the right ear can achieve...

The Queen successfully lobbied the government to change a draft law in order to conceal her “embarrassing” private wealth from the public, according to documents discovered by the Guardian.

A series of government memos unearthed in the National Archives reveal that Elizabeth Windsor’s private lawyer put pressure on ministers to alter proposed legislation to prevent her shareholdings from being disclosed to the public.


Following the Queen’s intervention, the government inserted a clause into the law granting itself the power to exempt companies used by “heads of state” from new transparency measures.

Chuck is no better...

Prince Charles vetted laws that stop his tenants buying their homes

Royals used secretive procedure to approve laws that gave special exemptions to Duchy of Cornwall

www.theguardian.com

 

[Jurassic]

Since you asked, here what I thought about it:

I ignored it. I've never been able to wrap my head around "being born into royalty". I was brought up being taught that everyone is born equal, with equal opportunity, and life is what you make of it. That's always made good sense to me even if it's not perfectly true, I think it's an ideal we should strive for. I find it about as repugnant as arranged marriages. But it doesn't really concern me so I just don't pay much attention to it. If I were a Brit, who knows what I would think about it, but I'm sure there are some on the other side of the Pond that see it as I do. That celebrated positions should be earned, not granted by birthright. It just seems weird, especially since the justification is "that's how we've always done it".

I'm British (English, living in Scotland for 30 plus years) and I'm with you Mountain Boy. I don't have any beef with the former queen as a person (she seemed a pretty decent sort overall) but the monarchy as an institution is just plain wrong imho (along with a lot of other British class related traditions). Plenty of people disagree though and the monarchy still enjoys pretty widespread support over here for some reason.