A polite 'excuse me' would not have gone amiss

Grrrrrrr

This morning I was sailing in having finally recovered from whatever hideous bug I managed to catch last week. I heard the unmistakable sound of sirens at high speed somewhere behind me.

I was near a junction but stationary cars were quite close in on the cycle lane leading to the advance stop line and I decided to quickly stop and check the emergency vehicle wasn't in my lane. If so I reckoned the cars ahead would want to pull into the cycle lane to get out of the way. I stopped and looked.

It was a police car at high speed but wasn't in my lane. There were a couple of cyclists behind me and, as I resaddled to pull away one of them pushed past me. The car next to us was on the line demarcating the cycle lane and I have panniers so had to lean really far over. I was so shocked by his rudeness that I just gaped in horror.

He pulled into a side road about 100 yards later so I didn't have time to vocalise my anger. As it was all I would have done is point out that a polite 'excuse me' was all that was required.

I was about to move off anyway but would have let him through.

I know it sounds ridiculous but I'm still angry now. The lack of common courtesy on the road really gets my goat. I mean really. Harumph!

I'll take the high horse...

S and I were pootling along this morning. We were chatting as we went as there was very little traffic and we had a bus lane to ourselves while the few cars around had two lanes to play with and any cyclists had lots of room to overtake.

Imagine my shock then when a woman came past and muttered loudly 'You're cycling like idiots!' before wobbling away.

I say wobbling because we've passed her before and she cycles in a very low gear and often wobbles while pedalling madly. S and I shrugged it off and continued. I was a bit annoyed as this particular woman runs red lights, wobbles and weaves and is, generally, quite selfish in her cycling. Plus she actually doesn't go that much quicker than we do. I know because I see her frequently.

I tried to forget about it, but at the next very busy junction she was there and was attempting the run the red light. I say attempting because she got ahead of the stop line and was forced to stop as a car came hurtling across (which it had every right to do as it had a green). She then tried again and I don't know what she did to her gears but she was pedalling like a woman possessed and going absolutely nowhere. She wobbled so badly at one point I thought she was going to tip over, weaved all over the lane and finally reached the other side.

Needless to say S and I had to work hard not to guffaw loudly. We didn't entirely succeed.

When a lorry driver is better than a cyclist

Now, in certain circumstances it's acceptable to get to the front of the traffic queue even if a lorry's at the front and it's a left or straight on lane.

In this morning's scenario:

1. There was a cycle lane all the way to the front.
2. The lorry driver had, very considerately, left the cycle lane clear AND left about another half metre clear on top of that.
3. The forward section set aside for cyclists was also left clear by the lovely lorry driver.
   
4. The light had just gone red and, from experience, I know that this junction has a long wait for green.
5. I was already close to the front.

So far, so safe. But I hadn't counted on the incredibly inconsiderate cyclist in front of me. He knew that I was behind him, along with another cyclist, as he'd busted a gut to overtake us shortly before the junction. So why, WHY did he decide to go up the side of the lorry at the speed of a snail? Why would you go so slowly knowing you've trapped two cyclists behind you into the lorry's blind spot?

The lorry driver had left a wide corridor for us to go through AND left the forward section clear, so what the hell was he thinking?

The answer, dear reader, was that he wasn't thinking at all, he was just tootling along with absolutely no awareness of anyone else. I lost it somewhat, cleared my throat loudly and aggressively until he got the hint and moved out of the f****** way. I then got right in the middle of the forward section and nodded at the lorry driver to express my appreciation that he'd left so much space for me.

The lorry driver was the hero of this piece, he had acted impeccably. In fact, when I had pushed my way to the front and caught his eye to give him a winning smile, he then gave me plenty of time to get ahead and clear before pulling out.

Dear Samaritans...

I need your advice on dealing with suicidal people.

Every day I see many people who long for death. They throw themselves in front of my bike when walking, those on bikes seek out the blind spots of lorries and run red lights on junctions with no visibility. They swear at big scary men driving tinted out BMWs and they cross lanes without looking.

What should I do?

I often call out to these people, although normally it's not words of comfort but many do not stop, they continue their quest for eternal rest unheeding of my pleas.

I find it sad that so many people crave death and will do so much to hasten it. I quite like my life and I can't sympathise with them. Sigh. Perhaps your organisation, having dealt with many suicidal people could give me some advice on counselling people. I fear my standard retort of 'What the hell are you doing you t**t!' is unhelpful and doesn't offer them the comfort they crave.

Any advice gratefully received.

Red lights - personal choice but be logical

Ah, the old chestnut that is red light jumping.

Some people do it, others don't, some people have strict criteria for jumping, some will only do it on crossings, not junctions blah blah blah.

I have, in the past jumped them (mainly when no one was around at all, not a soul or car) but now I never do. My cycling style's changed a lot since I began two-wheeling last year and, for me, red light jumping's just not something I do. If someone else wants to it's their prerogative and as long as I don't get harassed for my decision I'll leave everyone else to theirs.

What did puzzle me though, was the absurd logic of a guy this morning. He kept getting in front of me, jumped one light, but not the next, weaved a lot and then, at a large junction I was totally confused. The light was red so he got off his bike and walked it straight across the junction. Not across the pedestrian crossings, he walked in the middle of the junction, in the middle of the road. Once he was across he got back on and pedalled off.

Luckily he crossed unscathed and managed to get a couple of minutes when the two roads with green lights were traffic free but WTF? Why not just pedal across if there were no cars? Why take an extra five minutes to cross by foot if you're not going to use the pedestrian crossings? Why make yourself look weird and eccentric? Maybe we'll never know.

The race is on....

We've all been there. The traffic light's on red, there's a cyclist next to you eyeing up the road ahead, you're both waiting for that flash of amber and, you're off!

Your legs pump madly as you struggle to gain enough speed to change gear, both of you are cycling too fast to drop behind the other and too slowly for one to overtake, cars whizz past oblivious to the silent battle of wills.

With both of you in the wide expanse of the bus lane neither is willing to drop back. Other cyclists are overtaken in smooth curved trajectories and the road just keeps going.

Potholes add a new dimension to the challenge and you silently curse the weight of your panniers and apologise to your trusty bike as your back wheel thumps heavily into a depressed manhole cover. Pedestrians wander out without looking, the road becomes an obstacle course, and all the time you're checking discreetly to see if he's managed to pass you. There's a hill, you both stand up on the pedals to avoid changing down, you're going hard, both getting a good rhythm and pushing for the line. You're ahead, he's ahead, you're ahead, he's ahead, but then, there's a red light. You both come to an abrupt halt. Suddenly it's over.... and a weaselly little bastard on a rickety BMX with the seat so low his knees go up round his ears sails illegally through the light past both of you.

The person you've been racing against looks at you and winks, 'A**hole' he murmurs. You agree and giggle in a moment of shared animosity. Then the light changes and it's on again.

Woman's Hour, what a disappointment

Today's Woman's Hour looked at women cyclists and lorries. A promising idea... or maybe not.

It's true that six of the seven cyclists killed this year by HGVs have been women but that's not representative of statistics over the past few years. There was some very interesting information from a woman whose daughter was killed nine years ago in an HGV collision. She's worked with the lorry company whose driver killed her daughter to find new ways to protect vulnerable road users and has been instrumental in getting the company to fit proximity sensors, modified mirrors and give drivers more training.

But that's where my interest faded. There was mention of headphones and helmets, with the suggestion that women fear helmet hair (sigh) and the mention that a couple of the women killed had felt 'vulnerable' on the road. But no one discussed why they felt vulnerable or if they had put themselves in danger by undertaking said lorries.

Men will take to the roads more readily than a lot of women, but it shouldn't feel like such a big risk. Why don't we have better protected cycle lanes, better maintained roads and the support of the police?

The other thing that has to change is attitude. When I first took to the roads I let myself be bullied into going through red lights by cyclists and drivers alike. I allowed impatient cyclists to make me feel like I had to go up the sides of lorries to get to the front of the junction even if I didn't feel safe doing so. Not any more.

As head of the company cycling network I've been approached by several women thinking of taking to the road. All of them were worried about safety but my answer was the same: there's no law that says you have to get to the front at junctions, no one can force you to be unsafe, if you don't want to nip through traffic, don't. If someone behind you gets cross and impatient it's their problem not yours.

When it comes to red traffic lights and creeping past lorries, no means no.

Politeness

After this morning's cycle, I'm inspired to write an open plea to cyclists everywhere. I'm sick of having my morning's ride ruined by other cyclists. Cars are rubbish but we should at least stick together as pedallers surely.

Why whizz past five millimeters from my handlebars when there's the whole bus lane to use? Please don't glide up like silent death and nearly take me off my bike. As a cyclist I'm sure you know there are faults in the road that I may need to swerve around without warning. Perhaps a courtesy bing on your legally required bell if circumstances force you to come close? I don't want to hit you, it might damage my bike.

If you're on a rickety three-speed and wearing normal clothes, please don't get in front of lycra-clad long distance commuters at junctions and lights. If someone is wearing lycra it's normally because they're going far and fast enough to get sweaty and you being in front of them on a hill could ruin their journey. At the same time, please don't overtake me on my 24-gear road bike that I use for an average of 20 miles a day just because I'm a girl and even though you're on a rusty mountain bike that goes a maximum of 10 miles an hour.

Please don't try and harrass me into breaking the law at red lights. I don't like going through them, a lot of them are there for a reason. I don't swear at you for running them, so please don't swear at me because I don't. If you hit my back wheel because you're impatient language may be issued that causes offence or upset so please avoid at all costs.

The same with going up the inside of lorries. I try and leave enough space for you to cheat death if you wish to do so but I don't like overtaking enormous smoky lorries on the inside where they can't see me. I quite like life, please don't expect me to risk mine just because you like to be careless with yours.

Thanks.

Oh and this is my 50th post, how exciting!

Biking the strike

Luckily I'm off work tomorrow because I can honestly say that this morning was one of the worst commutes by bike I've ever had.

At junctions where I usually see two other cyclists there were between 10 and 15 and it was clear that a lot of them had never cycled on road before or usually used their bikes in races on the weekends. If it wasn't a basketed beauty weaving across the lane in front of you it was a lycra loonie whizzing past like silent death, or it was the plucky first-timer on the wrong gear - legs going like the clappers but actual speed is approximately two miles an hour.

The sheer volume and the fact that so many of them expected you to skip red lights meant I was forced to go through a couple, something I avoid doing if at all possible. At one point when I refused at a junction a cyclist behind me hit my back wheel because she was following so close.

Not only that but there was also a lot of angry drivers on the road. Overtaking too close, swearing at cyclists because they're actually angry about the gridlock making them late and the fact we can sail past it all on bikes, bus drivers cutting people up ruthlessly and swerving into cycle lanes.

What was so disappointing to me was that for a lot of people, it was their first experience of cycling on the road in London and it's so not like this most of the time. There is always the occasional bad driver and crap cyclist but the numbers today were unprecedented. I really hope people aren't put off long-term by the chaos of today.

Debating red lights in the sunshine

It's not been a great week so I hadn't even noticed that for the first time in months it's actually a bit warm and sunny.

And the clocks changing mean that I cycle home in broad daylight instead of the deadly gloom of dusk.

Still suffering the effects of my fall this week and a visit to the dentist after work led me to leave Roger halfway at a station this morning and I feel quite guilty. He'll be aching to ride in the sunshine but instead he'll only get to go halfway and via the A40.

We did, however, get shouted at by a woman on our way to said station though and I wish I'd stopped and debated the point with her.

The argument centred around a red light, that I may have gone through. Now, I already hear the mob gathering pitchforks, but allow me to argue the key points:

• The lights are there solely for pedestrians and it's not a junction so there was no risk of other cars coming my way.
• The cycle lane stops a few yards before the crossing and restarts a few yards afterwards meaning there are cars attempting to climb up your bottom whenever you stop there.
• I had a clear view of the crossing and all pedestrians had stepped off the crossing before I proceeded.
• A car was already revving right behind my back wheel in a threatening manner.
• In the year and a bit that I've been using that route I have never hit a pedestrian, not when they step out randomly, nor on a crossing, whereas I've been nudged, bumped and hit with wing-mirrors by impatient cars at junctions around 20 times because I've not got in front of the traffic.

I hate cyclists who whizz through red lights when they haven't got a clear view. I hate cyclists who dash through junctions on red lights causing cars to screetch to a halt and put lives in danger.

But I'm afraid that until you've cycled regularly on main roads in London you're not entitled to swear at me for going through a red. Nor should you stand in the road to berate me as it's a danger to you and other traffic. In fact, you're not even entitled to an opinion on whether you'd do it yourself because it's like the question of eating human flesh, until you're in the situation you just don't know.