Scarier things than ranting drivers

The third Women V Cancer Ride the Night is tomorrow night. I'm sad to be missing it, but with it being so close to the leaving date for Cycle Africa (two weeks today, gulp!!), it was too much - both financially and practically - to fit it in. Instead, I'll be waiting to hear how all of my Women v Cancer friends get on during this most special of events.

Ride the Night will always hold a special place in my heart. It introduced me to many incredible women; it motivated me to write my first little book; it made me cycle further than I'd ever done before; it introduced me to three charities that do a great job of supporting women affected by breast, ovarian and cervical cancer; it gave me some fantastic friends and it was truly humbling to be surrounded by so many women who'd faced the toughest of times (who'd had a cancer diagnosis, who were in treatment, who'd lost someone dear to them, or who'd faced a whole host of other adversities) but were grabbing life by the handlebars and making the very, very most of the ride.

I was reminded this morning (by an innocent Facebook post from one of my lovely friends, that led to the usual tirade of angry comments) that throughout the year, us cyclists face a lot of ill-feeling on the roads. Let's face it, most drivers just don't want us there - taking up their space, getting in their way, holding them up...we're so bloody annoying! And sometimes they're justified in being angry - when numpty cyclists jump a light, when they pull out in front of cars, when they cycle four a breast etc. Tsk, bloody cyclists! They drive me nuts, talk about inconsiderate! They don't even pay road tax or insurance. Hate when there is a cycle lane and cyclists don't use it! Now that really gets me annoyed! I'd love to run them over...

So it's fitting that I read those comments on a day when I'm thinking about all of those amazing, incredible women who'll tomorrow night face their fears, get on their bikes and ride. Despite the animosity they face from many drivers.

After all, they've faced things far more scary than a few red-faced ranting drivers in their time...

So a wee message to my fellow Women v Cancer cyclists: Best of luck to each and every one of you for tomorrow night. Stay safe, enjoy the ride and have an absolutely brilliant night! You're all amazing.

And a wee message for my fellow drivers (again...!):

Why I don't like cycling on busy - or main - roads

I don't like cycling on main - or busy - roads. We live in a lovely wee rural village however, unless we put the bikes on the roof of our car and head off somewhere else, we have no option but to ride on some fairly busy main roads. None of which have cycle lanes.

We're allowed to do that. There isn't a law against us cycling on the roads. But lots of people are irritated by the fact that bikes are allowed to share the roads with cars. And that's absolutely fine.

It's absolutely fine not to like stuff, or to feel irritated by things.

I myself hold my hand up to sometimes feeling irritated when I see a cyclist up ahead when I'm behind the wheel of my car...I also sometimes feel irritated when I see a tractor up ahead, or (I'm not proud to admit) occasionally even a learner driver. Tsk, I have to slow down and wait (im)patiently for a safe opportunity to pass and add a whole probably nothing on to my overall journey time! What a pain!

But, just because I feel irritated doesn't mean I do stuff that might kill the person on the bike, or in the tractor or behind the wheel of the learner car.

Sadly, there are a few folk who are a bit more than irritated and they deliberately try to edge cyclists off the roads. They really don't like cyclists. They hate that cyclists are on the road and want to push them off! I was in the back of a taxi one evening and the taxi driver told me that he deliberately drives too close to cyclists because he 'fucking hates cyclists'. So, I know that these people do exist.

But most people aren't like that. Thankfully. I'm sure that even most people who 'fucking hate cyclists' don't try to knock them off their bikes.

There are some people whose irritation turns to frustration and they'll lose sense of when's a safe opportunity to pass a bike. They might wait, then get fed up waiting and squeeze between the bike and an oncoming car. That's scary when you're the one on the bike.

And there are lots of people whose irritation doesn't turn to frustration. They wait patiently for a safe moment to pass and genuinely think they're leaving enough space when they overtake and would be horrified if they knew that they'd actually nearly knocked a cyclist off their bike and possibly nearly killed them.

I was probably one of those folk before I started cycling. I had no concept of what was a safe distance to leave between my car and a bike when I was overtaking*. My bad.

Of course, there are lots of drivers who always leave a big gap between their car and the bike they're passing. Thank you all! I love you!

This morning a driver nearly knocked me off my bike. It was really scary. I didn't fall off but I wobbled, a lot. The thing is that the driver, I like to think, probably wasn't deliberately trying to knock me off my bike while he was speeding past me on a big wide road with plenty of space to move out. He probably just didn't realise that he was so close. Or, he maybe did realise that he was close but thought that the teeny space between us was a safe enough distance to leave.

I really hope he wasn't someone who hates cyclists so much that he deliberately tries to knock them off their bikes. I hope he wasn't that taxi driver on his day off.

I'll never know. But I do know that it was a pretty close call and I do know that if he'd been a smidgen closer I would've been off my bike. I might have been writing here tonight about some pretty nasty injuries I'd sustained.

Or I might not have been here to write a post at all.

And that's why I don't really like cycling on busy - or main - roads.

* According to the Highway Code you should 'give vulnerable road users at least as much space as you would a car'

Story 32: A birthday plea from a bloody cyclist

I mentioned in my last post that I'd had a few scary moments with wobbles on the road during my last cycle. Now, I understand the many reasons why some drivers don't like cyclists (OK, why most drivers don't like cyclists...) so I can handle the fact that I might not be liked when I'm on my bike and I can accept that the person driving up behind me might be muttering under their breath 'Shit, there's a bloody cyclist ahead!'

That doesn't frighten me. I mean, I don't like not being liked. But it doesn't frighten me. What does frighten me is the fact that many, many drivers don't leave nearly enough space when they overtake.

It's so easy to knock a cyclist off their bike. And, if you do knock them off, the cyclist (maybe me!) will probably end up with lots of broken bones and might die.

I guess I've been thinking about this as it's my birthday today. Hooray!! I've clocked up another year!! And I'd really love to be here to celebrate many more years to come!

So, this is my birthday plea to all drivers out there; no matter how much you hate the fact that cyclists are allowed on the road, please please please move out and give them plenty of space when you pass them.

...and, em, just for the record; I don't particularly like being stuck behind bloody cyclists either! But, I do bide my time and make sure I'm giving them plenty of space when I overtake. I'm ashamed to say it wasn't always that way...

Bloody Cyclist!

I’m a bloody cyclist

Who loves to ride her bike,

I’m loathed by many motorists

Who see me as a blight.

They see me cycling on their road

Then all they see is red,

Their temples pulse, their voices rise:

‘There’s a bloody cyclist ahead!’

‘What gives them the bloody right

To use the bloody road?

They don’t pay any taxes,

They don’t know the Highway Code!’

‘Folk on bikes are idiots

They always jump the lights,

They never wear the proper gear

On dark or foggy nights!’

‘Those Sunday cyclists; they’re the worst!

You know the sort I mean;

Spread across the bloody road

In lycra-wearing teams.’

‘And roundabouts – don’t start me!

Cyclists don’t have a clue!

“Which lane is it I should be in?

Oh, I don’t know what to do!”’

‘Bloody cyclists! MOVE YOUR ARSE!

You’re causing a delay!

Go cycle in a Velodrome,

Get out my bloody way!’

On and on the driver goes,

With angry vitriol;

Venting their frustration at

Us cyclists one and all.

Though, if I’m being honest,

Then I guess I should admit

That I was once that driver,

And I’m quite ashamed of it! 

Before I loved my bicycle

I’d only use my car,

I was that bloody driver

Who would just take it too far.

I’d curse at every cyclist

Who’d dare to cross my path,

I’d rant and rave behind my wheel

With fierce and angry wrath:

‘Get out my bloody way’ I’d shout

I’d criticise and scorn,

I’d overtake before I should

I’d even hoot my horn!

I was that bloody driver,

I too thought I knew best,

I too thought every cyclist

Was a royal bloody pest.

I’m really quite embarrassed

That I thought it was OK,

To treat all cyclists on the road

In that bloody awful way...

So, if all this sounds familiar

And you’re that driver too,

There’s something, as a cyclist,

That I’d like to say to you:

I know you get frustrated

When you want to overtake,

I understand your anger

When I make a wee mistake.

I know I’m often in your way

And slow you in your tracks,

I understand your carping

On the issue of road tax!

I get your irritation

With the cyclists who break rules,

Who jump the lights, don’t look behind,

Behave like bloody fools.

But please, I beg, remember

That we’re not all one the same,

That numpties who jump lights and such

Don’t do it in my name.

And, yes, we sometimes get it wrong,

We make the odd mistake,

But drivers sometimes do that too,

Pull out, don’t indicate!

And if you check your facts about

The tax disc you display,

You’ll see that you don’t own the road

Or have the right of way!

Is it too much to hope for,

Or too much to dare expect,

That we could treat each other

With a little more respect?

I wonder if it’s possible

That you could change your mind,

Could be much more accepting

Less frustrated and more kind?

Can’t we just be buddies?

Can’t we use the roads in peace?

Put up with all our nuances

And let the griping cease?

I hear what you are saying,

That you’d like me out your hair,

But just like tractors and their loads

I’m not going anywhere!

So, please accept my slowness,

And I’ll accept your slips;

Bikes and cars are here to stay

Let’s make the most of it!

Lastly, here’s my pipe dream,

My wish on which to end:

That every bloody driver

Be the bloody cyclist’s friend...

 ©Jane Milne

This is one of the rhymes from my little book 'One Woman's Verses vs Cancer'. All of the profit from sales is being donated to Women V Cancer. Click on the photo of the book opposite for more information!