Mad? No, but perhaps just a little crazy
I cycle through London almost daily and some friends think I am mad to do so. Almost weekly we read reports of cyclists inolved in accidents, and about the perils of the road.
Well, I have one simple rule to deal with cycling in London. Actually, I really have several, but one chief rule that encompasses all the rest: be paranoid.
Yep, that’s it. Just believe that everyone is out to get you. Think that every car door you pass is about to open, every bus and taxi is going to cut you up, every driver is going jump the red light or stop street, and NEVER pass a high-sided vehicle on the left.
Over course, there are other lesser hazards, such as turning on wet box junctions, where the painted lines are like an ice rink.
But there is always something that you just do not expect. Yesterday I was (almost) involved in two incidents that I could not legislate for: in the first, a motorcyclist passed me at speed and turned left without signalling, almost taking me with him. In the other, a fellow cyclist, in the dark and without lights, turned right across my direction of travel. I don’t quite know how we avoided colliding.
So, all in all, it’s a little like Monty Python’s (40 years old this week) Spanish Inquisition - you never know when to expect it. That’s enough to keep me paranoid.