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Since being moved to my new unit, the route I take into work is different from the route I take home.
On the way home, I pass a blind right hander, on the top of a hill, narrow road, so on coming traffic will likely be in the centre of the road, or entirely on my side as has happened on occasion! There’s also high, unkempt hedging to my left, beyond which is a green, leading to a graveyard and old church.
The first time I rode that way home I thought I noticed a gap in the hedging, just passed the apex of the bend, so the next night on the way home I slowed for a proper look, and yep, there’s a gap alright, but one that you wouldn’t see unless you were looking for it. The hedging either side touches in the middle so you’d have to push it out of your way to get through, and beyond it is a rough unofficial path, obviously worn there by the public taking an unofficial shortcut through the cemetery, over the green and out onto the road.
Hmmmm….. must remember that’s there me thinks.
So every night, with a little toot of the horn, as I lean into the right hander, ‘’daisy picking’ to have the best odds I can of being missed by a car driver who fancies all the road, I say to myself ‘’mind the gap’’ … aware that I’m right on the edge and therefor as near to a pedestrian using the gap as I can be without actually mounting them!
This evening, with one car approaching on the other side of the road, but a bit of a way off, I’m holding a steady throttle, starting to move away from the verge, and beginning to wind on when a dog dashes out in front of me, inches from the front wheel.
The dog was attached to about 10 feet of leash, which was attached, on the other end, to the handlebars of a bicycle, on which reclined a teenager, being pulled along by the dog.
As the back wheel came slowly back to earth, and I got a foot down, the cyclist just nodded at me, smiled and peddled away … into the path of the car coming up on the other side, who was screeching to a halt as the dog and leash were already nearly under his car.
The car driver was stunned, so I nudged over to him and asked him if he was alright. Yeah he sez, I just don’t know how you stopped; I was sure you were gonna run them over, then when you didn’t I suddenly realised they were on my side and I dunno how I didn’t run them over.
Dunno who he is I sez, but that dog’s name is definitely Lucky and off I went.
As I rode off, I was thankful to the IAM course I did years back.
We were told always think about
what you can see,
what you cant see,
and what you can reasonably expect to happen.
Someone dashing through the gap I easily imagined – have to admit I didn’t quite imagine a poor dog lashed to a bicycle pulling a cyclist along.
So what did I learn:
- Some people should not be allowed to own dogs.
- Some cyclists should not be allowed out on their own
- Any advanced training you do will continue to pay dividends for the rest of your riding life
Tesco’s are selling a pack of 3 boxer shorts of less than a tenner
- Alps can do stoppies even at slow speed
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Originally Posted by Whealie
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