It's not easy being a British cyclist. First off, there's the weather. Now .... I know that we're not the only nation to suffer precipitation difficulties - but we do seem to get rather a lot of it. Witness this photograph below. Halfway across the Pennines on the Coast to Coast ride, Beautiful Wife Jo, sons Jonny and Ollie, and multiple friends had to abandon their bicycles and make like penguins behind a drystone wall. A common occurence on that particular trip.
However, this is a mere inconvenience compared to the seemingly impossible fusion of users on our roads. Very sadly, an elderly cyclist was knocked off his bike last night in our town, circumstances as yet unknown - but another example of the constant battle between bike and car on our transport network. Such a moot point that, this evening, the BBC are airing a programme entitled 'War on Britain's Roads'.
Cyclists immediately want to blame the motorist, and it's true to say that over 75% of bicycle/car related accidents are the fault of the Britain's drivers, and in some cases the animosity shown by them towards cyclists. But I do wonder if we are truly helping the situation.
On my bike this evening in the rush hour traffic - very cool cyclist in front of me - wearing all black - I barely saw him. Students cycling home from the local college, no lights.
On the other hand, last week a motorist deliberately pulling across to the kerb at the lights to stop me making my way into the 'bike box' in front of him. At the moment it all seems to be a bit of a mess.
This evenings' programme relies heavily on footage from cyclists' head cameras. It promises to be interesting.
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