Cycling to work was great it meant I exercised for 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week and it helped clear my head after a day of work. I no longer cycle to work and the reason why is because I have had not one but two bike accidents. I know what you are thinking "well it must have been your fault". The first accident, a van turned right across my path and took me out, The second accident, the car was pulling out of side road, turning right, again across my path. The first time was quite a serious crash, I had the two-tones to Glasgow Western Infirmary. The second time, the driver took me to hospital. I don't prescribe to two wheels good, four wheels bad doctrine or vice versa. I believe there are good road users and bad ones. In fact the driver of the van from the first accident kept repeating "but I am cyclist too!".
I have seen cyclists that make me very angry! No lights, headphones on and a lack of arm signals!!! The worst one is no helmet. Below is a picture of my helmet after my first crash.
Imagine if that was my skull!
The problem is a lack of infrastructure for cyclists. I rarely use cycle lanes they box you in and people park in them which means you end up having to pull in and out which I think is more annoying for cars. I still find it hard to cycle round towns or cities and rarely do if Andrew isn't with me. That's why if Andrew is away, I am training for the mmm Challenge on a spinning bike at my gym. The Times has a campaign for Cities safe for cycling. Please click the badge above to support this initiative.
With our jobs Amelia and I hear about the UK's obesity problem, in fact Amelia's research focuses on this. If more people felt safe enough to cycle to work or even just small distances this would encourage people to be just a little bit more active. Not saying this is the only area that needs to be tackled but it is one small piece of the puzzle.
If only all roads were this quiet!
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