YOU'RE IN MY WAY !

Driving straight at Cyclists as she was overtaking a farm tractor , involved dangerous driving coupled with an insulting gesture , indicating that she had the right to be on the wrong side of the narrow country road ! Too often Cyclists face this dilemna presented by thoughtless , self centred , childish & petulent drivers !

Was that gesture an indication that this driver thought that because she had been slowed by a tractor , that Cyclists should not be on the otherside of the road , because they were an inconvenience in the rush to get to the destination ? What was her hurry anyway , there was no traffic following us , so that manoevre , scattering 3 Cyclists , was totally unnecessary ! At best she would have lost several seconds , however , she may have misjudged and caused injury or even death . Was she in such a rush that she was prepared to risk a Jail Term ?

This incident today , i was told by the two youths that i was Cycling with , is becoming commonplace , an indication of an acceptance by them that they are unable to go training and return home to their studies without encountering several alarming incidents . As those reading my blogs will have noted , i have no time for accepting this type of behaviour , and will where possible , follow a perpetrator to their destination . I usually ask them if they remember meeting me before , then explain why it was necessary to persue them . It will come as no surprise to most of you that the driver will say that they did not notice you !

When the driver makes a gesture or shouts at you , they deserve all that comes their way . One wonders what they do when they encounter a truck ? Doubt they would attempt to bully another vehicle when they risk damaging their paintwork ?

Cities around the world are attempting to encourage more of their citizens to take to the bike for a greater percentage of their journeys . Many of these Cities have published plans to grow the percentages in the coming years and set aside considerable funds to implement the infrastructure to enable Cyclists to reach their destination in SAFETY !

Boris Johnson , Mayor of LONDON , for many years has enthused about his Cycling related plans , has even signed up Barclays Bank to Sponsor Bike Hire Facilities on a long term Contract . Over recent years he has caused to be created several " Super Cycling Highways " , with more in the process of being added to the London Metro network . Regretably , these plans whilst wonderful on paper , as a matter of actuality have proved to be the death of several Cyclists !

" Cyclists in the City " , a blog that i follow has today , reported that a third cyclist death has occured on the much vaunted " SuperHighway 2 "! Pertinent details below :

  "  It is not a cycling campaign group but London's own newspaper saying this: "Cycle Superhighway 2 follows the A11 trunk road, a busy multi-lane road but despite being one of the Mayor's flagship commuter cycle routes, the section of Superhighway 2 from Aldgate to Bow roundabout has no dedicated space for cycling. Instead, cyclists are expected to jockey for position among lorries, cars, motorbikes, buses and taxis, with only blue paint and a few bike symbols to protect them."

Something has definitely changed. Two years ago when people first took to their pedals to protest at the woefully inadequate plans for Blackfriars Bridge (two years on, they're unchanged by the way), we were regarded by the media and London's politicians as something of a novelty . Now, calls for safe space for cycling are starting to go mainstream. But they're only going to stay mainstream if you join in and show you want to push for a solution."

Seems that those involved in Boris Johnson's Team are unwilling to listen to the users of these facilities ?   

"NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE DEATH TRAP "!