Heading Columns of Traffic Since 1987 (part II)

As of this morning there'll be some probably pretty regular posts about cycling. Mostly this'll be an angry tirade against motorists (and perhaps occasionally other road users) because, let's be honest, most of them are pretty stupid when it comes to cyclists. I welcome requests for features, but you might have to wait until your particular gripe happens to me.

I will preface all of this by saying that, contrary to when I wrote the first part of this series (about seven years ago), I can drive and do so for long journeys and for shopping. For shorter journeys, like commuting, I cycle or walk, partly because getting public transport is impossible for me, partly because it's cheaper than gym membership but mostly because it's a bunch of fun.

On the other hand, motorists make it a lot less fun and a lot more dangerous.

With that said, here's today's rant: Gap Closing.

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One of the main (and they are few and far between) advantages of cycling in cities is that you can zip around traffic when it's queuing for lights or for whatever other idiotic reasons people queue. This is great fun. I tend to count the cars that I pass. On one particular occasion I passed 60 cars before I got to the lights, and some of these were buses with dozens of people on so really it's like a billion people that I beat overtook.

Normally roads on which queues develop have lanes wide enough for cars and cyclists to share the road. When I say share I mean there's enough space for cyclists to pass on at least one side. But occasionally one particularly unintelligent driver thinks it's funny to close the gap on the pavement side.

This is not funny. If you took the time (and it doesn't have to be much time) to look in your near-side mirror you'd notice a cyclist or two in a high-vis jacket. Then either you'd think twice about moving in, or you'd do it anyway (it's okay to be a vindictive eejit if at least you're honest about it).

Being squeezed into the pavement is no laughing matter. For one, I could damage your precious vehicle - nice long scratches down the side maybe, or a broken wing mirror. This would probably count (in your eyes) as being my fault for not being more careful. Furthermore, if my front wheel scrapes the kerb at even relatively low speed I run the risk of coming off and going under your wheels. Probably I'd have to pay to have my innards scraped out of your wheel arches then. Not to mention that hitting the kerb at high speed might cause my wheel to buckle, which is a bit more expensive to repair than getting minor scratches to your crappy little car sorted out.

So next time you're in traffic and are thinking, for whatever inexplicable reason, of closing the gap between you and the kerb, remember: Please look in your near-side mirror first. It's a lot cheaper than scraping lycra out of your brake pads.