When I do go out on my bike I always stick to the quiet roads or go along the canal towpath because of the number of idiots there are on the main roads. Lancaster is supposed to be a good place to be a cyclist. There are plenty of cycleways, cycle lanes and so on but despite this there seems to be quite a high number of accidents on the roads involving people on bicycles. Of course just because the town is cyclist-friendly doesn't mean that other road users are necessarily going to be more courteous to those on two wheels.
But today I went out in my car as I needed to take some rubbish to the tip. I hadn't gone very far, just to the top of our road where there is a mini-roundabout. I slowed down. A car was coming up the hill but the driver showed no sign of slowing down despite it being my right of way. This is quite common. Many drivers treat the mini-roundabout as if it is a T junction and when they drive up the hill they assume they have right of way. I don't know what the Highways department of the County Council can do about this other than put up a large sign saying, "Give way to traffic on the right!" Might be worth a go.
Being distracted by this other driver I failed to look to my right and I started to turn the corner. If I had looked I would have seen a cyclist coming down the hill. But I hadn't seen him because I hadn't looked. As I was soon to see at close quarters he was wearing a bright yellow high visibility jacket so if I had looked I'm sure I would have seen him.
My window was open so I got the full force of the abuse he shouted at me as he did an emergency stop next to my car. The phrase at the end of it was, "You fucking tool!"
Fortunately he was unhurt and carried on down the hill. I followed him, keeping my distance and pulled in to a side street as I was somewhat shaken by the incident. I had apologised to him and maybe just as well hadn't said the classic line, "I didn't see you" which I imagine would have further enraged him. He was a big bloke and had he decided to get off his bike and pull me out of the car I would probably have been composing this in A&E.
So I rather proved my own point - I don't cycle on main roads because there are too many 'fucking tools' like me driving cars and not looking out for cyclists.
As that old safety advert on TV used to say, "Think once. Think Twice. Think bike!"
Here we go. A job for this afternoon...
* I also have some anxiety issues which can make a simple thing like going out on my bike quite difficult. I think I suffer from General Anxiety Disorder but no doctor or therapist has actually stuck that particular label on me.
