Equaliser

I am sorry this post seems to have caused some sort of ethical upset but it was purely designed to highlight that different people caching, under different conditions, with different levels of experience could have a problem with this cache and similar caches like it. It is completely legitimate scenario for a new/inexperienced cacher and any reviewer has to take this into account when asessing a whole range of possibilities.

I am relatively new to the sport and wanted to do a few caches on my home tonight. I had heard that this was an unusual cache and whilst nobody had favourited it I decided to investigate myself. Before visiting the cache I wanted to see the approach from the motorist's point of view. I joined the A41 at the M25 and drove west to the Tring junction where I turned around and took the A41 back to the A416 where I turned off and parked in Shooters Way around N51°45.862 W000°36.173 as this seemed to be the closest sensible parking to the cache. The time was around 4pm on a winters evening, the weather was wet and the road surface was damp from the rain and condensation. There was some mist, especially near the Ridgeway bridge and visibility was poor: less than 200 yards and sometimes much less. The road itself is just as I remembered and as it appears on Street View: a four-lane clearway dual carriageway with a 70mph limit, no hard shoulder, short slip roads, some right-angle junctions and some parking laybys. The road is open to cycles - there are signs warning of the cycle routes around the junctions - and there is no restriction on pedestrians. There's no pavement but there is a grassy path at the side of each carriageway. The central reservation varies in width from a couple of yards to about ten yards. There is a barrier for each carriageway but both are fixed to the same posts. At the crossing points the northbound barriers end about ten yards after they've overlapped the southbound barriers. The section of road between the "Pedestrians crossing" signs is almost dead straight. Visibility is reduced by the changes in elevation of the road but I was always able to see several hundred yards ahead to where I knew the next crossing point was. I felt that if there were pedestrians crossing, waiting to cross, or loitering in the central reservation I would have been able to see them and would have only been distracted by them if they were behaving erratically by kneeling in the central reservation, looking for something in the barrier or signing a log book from a hidden container . The "Pedestrians crossing" sign which should be in the central reservation around N51°46.237 W000°36.716 is missing which is of further concern. Having parked I walked along the track parallel to the north side of the A41. This is marked on maps as an "Other route with public access"; on the ground it's signed as a bridleway. While walking I observed that traffic was frequent and busy with quite a bit of spray. Near the A41 crossing point the bridleway is crossed by the footpath which has a stile then steps down to the road. I paused at the top of the steps to remove my rucksack I didn’t have a hi-vis jacket (and should have spent circa £10 for my own protection). After waiting an eternity for a gap in the traffic I crossed to the central reservation. I didn’t read the hint so I wasn’t sure where to look for the cache and it was a few minutes of peering, kneeling and walking up and down checking my phone before the cache was in my hand. I extracted the log, signed it, and then went and dropped the cache and had to retrieve it again from under the barrier. While doing this I observed the passing motorists on each carriageway: many looked over and rubber-knecked my erratic behaviour. At this point I did feel unsafe and one passing motorist expressed concern by sounding his horn. I hadn’t appreciated that the visibility had started to get somewhat worse and as he turned to watch my reaction he veered slightly in to the other lane. The lorry in that lane also had to take evasive action and there was a horrible breaking screech and skidding sound as they reacted to each other. Luckily there was no collision but a police car coming down the carriageway pulled over to the verge and the officer called over to ask what I had been doing on the central reservation. I thought quickly and said ‘ just crossing on the footpath’ . He pointed out that he had been travelling down the other carriageway and had witnessed me searching the central reservation and wanted to know why. At this point I asked myself why I felt the need to search for this cache in the middle of a dual carriageway and exactly what benefit I was achieving being here. I admitted to the policeman that I was looking for a Geocache that had permission to be placed there. The policeman then advised me that no such permission was held and they were well aware of this hobby and would be contacting the listing site direct. I have visited roadside caches where I feared for my own safety and where it was obvious that passing motorists were also concerned. Such problems usually occurred on fast single carriageways with no pavement and where a motorist would not expect a pedestrian to be. This cache is not quite the same but still poses similar hazards. Please archive this listing as there is no reason to risk a serious incident that could bring this hobby into disrepute.