I have a new bike – it folds up so it can
be stowed in my car. I drive to the car park, then cycle in to the city. Being
a folding bike, it has smaller wheels than most. You have to push harder with
smaller wheels.
A folded bike |
Our city has lots of cycle paths, and those
paths are sometimes separate paved lanes, and sometimes red paved areas on the
road itself. Though most of my journeys
are driven, the six miles a day I do by bike provide a very different
perspective of ‘road experience’. The pot holes and road repairs transform from an uncomfortable
bump in a car to a potential flat tyre, bent wheel or even a crash to the
ground. So I have to swerve round the
bigger holes, and be cautious about wandering into the traffic lane.
I am reminded of when my children were
young and the kids were in pushchairs. Every
bumpy pavement, uneven surface and especially the cars parked on pavements,
made navigating my way around our town’s streets an obstacle course. It’s much the same now I’m back on two
wheels.
Parked cars represent a new threat – the
suddenly opened passenger door, or being in the driver’s blind spot when they
pull out. Drivers swear at cyclists,
cyclists swear at pedestrians, pedestrians swear at cyclists and drivers …
It seems that whatever our mode of
transport, that’s our world, and everyone else is the problem – we are pushing
against the tide instead of riding with it. It’s hard cycling, just like life – it’s
harder up hills, there are obstacles you have to negotiate, you are always someone
else’s bête noire, and sometimes there are accidents.
And you do have to push harder with small
wheels.
Photo credits:
Folding bike http://www.ternbicycles.com
Pot hole: http://www.aviewfromthecyclepath.com/2011/03/potholes-on-britains-roads-some-things.html
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