A Fall From Grace
I knew it was potentially dangerous at the weekend considering how long it was since I’d fallen from my bike…
The answer, if you’re so-minded to learn, was around 13 months, but the counter was reset this morning. And unlike last year’s tumble, which was brought about by rutted ice hanging around purposefully under some fresh snow, this was 100%, entirely, and completely my own stupid fault.
Filtering is something of an art, and one which I had come to assume I knew inside out. So while following another cyclist down a cycle lane on the left of some traffic, and seeing ahead a couple of vehicles in the cycle lane, and both indicating left, I decided to continue following his lead as a gap opened up to switch to the right of the traffic. The video really tells the story…
Blessings counted, and lady luck thanked, I got away with nothing more than a banged up knee and wounded pride. The car and bike were both unscathed, and even landing on the headcam refused to reduce it to a cluster of broken metal and plastic. It just goes to show that you can get a little over confident in your own ability to deal with traffic. I’d been going too fast for the move if anything about the gap changed. And it did change, with the car braking while my attention was diverted to checking in a different direction. I managed to display an impatience that I chastise in others (though without a metal shell around me I’m unlike to have done anyone in this instance harm save for myself).
If the driver (who is a cyclist, so this might happen) ever reads this, or sees the YouTube clip, I have you to thank for that not turning into an unnecessarily messy incident – I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone so calm at the prospect of there have been damage done to his car.
In the meantime I may be a little more defensive when filtering for a while. At the very least this banged up knee isn’t going to let me ride quite as quickly…
Maybe you need some advice on cycle safety, good to hear you are OK.