Wow! The 101 and the 102 are the longest routes operated by Cardiff Bus and it takes a whopping four and a half hours to complete the route. The same driver drives the whole route with just the occasional break to get off and stretch their legs. That must take some doing. I still find it hard to believe. What I found staggering was the answer to a question I asked the driver at the end of the route. “Is that you done for the day then?” and the answer I got was “Nah, I’ve got another three and a half hour route to drive later”. Staggering. Hats off to all bus drivers but in particular the 101 and 102 drivers.
I remember doing an annual defensive driving course when I was working. The advice then was to stop at a service station every couple of hours and have a coffee. Nowadays I have to stop that regularly for a pee. These 101/102 drivers must have strong bladders!
The book I had with me today was ‘Tales from the Fast Trains’ by Tom Chesshyre. Tom and his partner go on weekends away in Europe on the Eurostar. Now here’s a fact. The Eurostar takes 2hrs 16 mins to get to Paris so 4 hours 30 mins to do the round trip. That’s the same time as the 101 takes to do the route around Cardiff. And the Eurostar drives probably get a decent break in Paris before making the return leg. And they don’t have to contend with idiots like me asking them questions when all they really want to do is go for a pee.
I don’t know how the 101 route came about. My guess is that it was the winner of a children’s competition on a Cardiff Bus Open Day. Children were given a blank map of Cardiff and a box of crayons and told to draw a bus route. There’s probably a better explanation but that what it looks like to me. I rode Europe’s longest bus route once, the 360 around Coventry. I’ve also ridden the famous No.11 around Birmingham but to 101 must take the biscuit.
You might have guessed by now that I didn’t do the whole four and a half hour journey in one go. Not even two goes actually. I did it over three legs. I had coffee in Bean’s to Coffee on Colchester Avenue. And to answer the obvious question – why do they have an apostrophe in the name? Three reasons probably: a) to annoy pedants b) to create a talking point c) it is in a shape of a coffee bean on their shop sign.
For my walk I went around the Howardian Local Natrure Reserve set up by members of the Natural History Society at Howardian High School in 1973. It still seems a tranquil area even though it borders onto some busy roads.
Cardiff Capers 