There’s a pothole on my cycle home that’s trying to kill me. Every evening, just after I’ve passed King’s Cross and breathed a sigh of relief that the madness of central London traffic is behind me, there it is. It waits until I’m on a nice long descent, picking up speed for the upcoming ascent and trying to get through the traffic lights before they turn red, and then it pounces.
It catches me unawares, bounces me off my saddle and, once, even made me bite my lip. I think it’s trying to kill me and steal my shiny purple bike. It’s a very nice bike but it has very thin tires and doesn’t take too kindly to even the slightest dimpling in the road surface, so this beast of a pothole measuring a foot across and more than an inch deep makes it rear up and buck like a frightened stallion.
Every night I say to myself, “Tomorrow, I’ll remember. Tomorrow I’ll be ready.” And when tomorrow comes I’m looking at the road ahead of me rather than the surface right under my nose and BUMP, my feet spring off their pedals again.
When I tell people I cycle to work through central London passing two of the city’s accident blackspots for cyclists they furrow their brow and shake their head. “Oh no, I couldn’t cycle in London. It’s too dangerous. Aren’t you worried you’re going to get knocked off your bike?”
I worry about a lot of things: I hate to fly, I double and triple check I’ve locked the door at night, and my cat is 16 years old and if she doesn’t move for more than five minutes I have to prod her. But cycling doesn’t worry me.
I’m well aware of the risks of cycling and each week I have a couple of close calls with a taxi doing a u-turn across four lanes that hasn’t seen me or a van cutting me up. But I never feel in danger. Last year 122 cyclists died on Britain’s roads, 14 in London. That’s far too many, but it shouldn’t put us off getting on our bikes.
The more cyclists there are on the roads the more other drivers know how to behave when they’re around cyclists, how much space to give them, how to spot them and how not to knock them off their bikes. But we’ve got to look ourselves – be hyperaware of the traffic around us and not take risks. It’s not going to save you much time on your commute creeping up the inside of a lorry waiting at the lights. Stay behind it and it might just save you your life.
We’ve got to look out for each other too – that’s one of the reasons that I’m a member of the London Cycling Campaign. Because saying that you’d like to cycle to work but that it’s just too dangerous isn’t going to change anything. Getting on your bike and campaigning for safer roads is.
This morning I reported the pothole that I joke is trying to kill me to CTC’s Fill That Hole. Last month they had 3,168 pottoles reported to them and they push councils to fix them. Because tonight I might finally remember that the hole is out to get me – but someone else might get caught out unawares. Let’s all do our bit to make cycling safer and more fun.
[Pic: campaigning against the closure of the cycle path along the Lee Canal last summer]
I cycle from east to west London on a daily basis and even though I might not be scared of cycling in London I do think it’s dangerous at times….mainly because some drivers seem to think that cyclist don’t belong on the roads, and that they should be put out of their misery 😉
I’ve been thinking about reporting the whole of Tottemham Court Road as a big pothole, the state of it is appalling….but good on you for reporting ‘your’ pothole, I foten think about it, but never do.
I think you’re a total badass. Cycling terrifies me. Not just on roads. I freak out, even when cycling in the park.
I always think of my friends who cycle, when passing a cyclist in my car. That cyclist could be you. If everyone thought like that, I wonder how many less aciddents there’d be?