Once again I should have taken my own advice and started writing this at 2.30 this morning, I had to get up for the call of nature, and I couldn’t get back to sleep, and my mind started wandering to places I don’t like, I was very close to getting up, but after about 25/30 minutes I managed to fall asleep again. It’s not a good place, lying awake at any early hour of the night or morning, and it is a lonely place, even with my wife lying beside me.
I have methods to change my thought process, and they often work for me. Still, then I suppose that depends how strong I am at the time, usually, once my thoughts have been diverted to other things, they occasionally drift back to where I was, and I have to go through the process again, and sometimes again. Anyway I didn’t get up, but it was close, and if I had gotten get up it would have been to write on a subject that is very close to my heart – cycling, and the very reason I have started this page, or at least the falling off my cycle was!
I want to write two parts to this. Part one will be from a cyclist’s point of view; the second will be from a pedestrian/walkers/car driver’s point of view because I have been or am all of these people at some stage in my life, more so now I have started cycling again.
I have been out this morning, ten miles that I found a little difficult at times, and it’s not a hard route. Whilst cycling the same route the other day, a road cyclist went past me quite easily, but at my age, I am happy with my exploits, I’ll never be at Bradley Wiggins level!! But one of the first things I noticed whilst out today on the narrow country lanes, was that when I pulled over to let cars pass me, not one of the five or so drivers acknowledged me for doing it! Would they have done the same had I been in my car? I doubt it! I am sure I would have gotten a little wave of thanks had I been in my car, so why not when I am on my bike? It was as if it was my duty to get out the way of the vehicle, and of course, that’s not the case.
I do it out of consideration and being on a bike I don’t want to argue with a car, because the bike would come off second best! But a little thank you is as simple as lifting a few fingers from your steering wheel – preferably not two!!
It was good though, and again I must say that I totally understand the need for people to take part in physical exercise when they have low moods or any sort of mental health issues. It takes you mind of things, and the achievement can be very fulfilling. Please try to do something if you do have any problems, it will be worthwhile I promise!
When I wrote my book after the accident, I found myself scrutinising cyclists and their bad habits, which I will write about in time, but for now, I want to write about life as a cyclist.
It’s not easy, as too many car drivers don’t think we should be on the road in the first place, pests, think they have the right of way, no tax, no insurance etc. etc. But the law lets us be there, and there is enough room for everyone if we follow the first rule of cycling, at least in my book of rules, and that is ‘be courteous.’ If we are all courteous to each other, we will get on just fine. But let’s look at others from the Government website for cyclists:
Clothing. You should wear
- A cycle helmet which conforms to current regulations, is the correct size and securely fastened.
- Appropriate clothes for cycling. Avoid clothes which may get tangled in the chain, or in a wheel or may obscure your lights.
- Light-coloured or fluorescent clothing which helps other road users to see you in daylight and poor light
- Reflective clothing and/or accessories (belt, arm or ankle bands) in the dark.
The problem we have here is the word ‘should’ instead of the word ‘must.’ It’s like the HSE guidelines for Health and Safety at work, the words, could, should and maybe are used too often. HSE use those words to suit their needs, and so the law can do the same with cyclists if they want.
But how many cyclists don’t bother and more so don’t care, I see it nearly every day? When I was doing some driving for a few months, I was often up dull and dark country lanes and often came across cyclists in dark clothing with no lights. They blend into the background, and often not seen until the last minute, it could have caused issues for faster-driving cars; after all, country lanes are usually the national speed limit. But the photo from the website shows how little changes make a big difference. I personally cycle with front and back lights on and a bright orange jacket at all times of the day. At least people can’t say they didn’t see me!
And only this morning, when I was out, I was cycling along our High Street, a road with cars parked both sides but still enough room for vehicles travelling both directions to pass safely. Yet the car travelling the same way as me couldn’t wait even one minute or less, she had to overtake me as a car was coming towards us, and again I have to ask why, or maybe why not (wait)? She missed the other car by inches, and that meant getting a lot closer to me than I would have liked.
The Highway Code rule 139 of the Highway Code states ‘give cyclists at least as much room as you would a car when overtaking.‘ How much room does a car give a car? When you think about it, it’s not a lot of room as some get quite close to me for sure. I heard we should give cyclists about 1.8m, this is in case the cyclist falls as you overtake, 1.8m is about the height of an adult, and so that is overtaking safely. Well if she should have been 1.8m or 6′ away from me, I would say she was about 30cm or 1’ away, and it didn’t feel good.
But people find cyclists frustrating, and cyclists find people frustrating, but then the people or bodies responsible for cycling areas sometimes don’t help. Near where I used to live, the local forest and walkways had signs stating ‘no mountain biking.’ Now we knew it was okay to cycle there, yet some walkers didn’t. They saw the sign and assumed it meant no cycling?
One morning one gentleman and his wife had a go at me for cycling, I tried to explain I was allowed, but he wasn’t interested, and quite ignorant and rude. I gave up and went on my way. When I got home, I e-mailed the estate owners, who replied telling me I could cycle on paths with consideration (which I do anyway), but I couldn’t go building ramps and jumps and go off cycling into the woods. And that is what the ‘no mountain biking’ sign was supposed to mean.
I explained the argument and said they should make their signage a little clearer for those who didn’t know, but they said changes weren’t required. I kept the e-mail for months, unfortunately, although cycling there most weekends I never saw the couple that didn’t know the rules or I would have stopped and shown them the e-mail. They probably think the same to this day some four years later!!
And only recently I was stopped on a local country footpath by a resident who lives in a group of houses by the path, stating that I shouldn’t be there on my bike. Now, this is how people think – I was walking the footpath at the time with my bike, not even cycling! I pointed out that there was no rule or law that stated I couldn’t walk on a footpath with my bike (certainly none that I can find), and I asked what the problem was with me walking with my bike?
Her response was, bikes are not allowed, because an older lady ‘nearly’ got hit! Now I don’t want to argue with anyone, and we did have a very civilised conversation about it. I asked if I could put my point of view over and she listened to me, here is what I said, or similar to:
It is usually local by-laws that determine if cycling is allowed on stand-alone paths, and there was nothing to say that cycling wasn’t allowed on this path. More so I would continue to cycle on the footpath as and when it was safe to do so. The minute I see pedestrians coming towards me, I stop and dismount, not even cycle close up to them before doing so. I will move my bike to the side, so they do not feel intimidated, and so they get right of way, as they should.
I will not cycle silly, I will not cycle fast, nor will I cycle around blind bends or cycle where it isn’t safe to cycle, if necessary I will get off my bike and walk – and the reason I was walking with my bike when she saw me was the part of the path, approx. 200/250 yards long was quite narrow and had three blind bends. However, when I could see well ahead and it there was no-one in sight, I would cycle. I would never, ever inconvenience anyone.
I asked her how she felt about that, and she said she was okay with it. I asked her to remember the Scottish accent and the bright orange jacket. I thanked her and reminded her that not all cyclists were the same! She thanked me, and we went our separate ways, and that is what I mean about cycling with consideration for others.
I said earlier in this post that there would be two parts, one from the cyclist, one from the pedestrian/driver, but there will be more, as two are not enough to cover all the points I want to write about!
Thank you for reading and stay safe
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