Four Wheels Bad, Two Wheels Good
|
| Cycling is for the determined - photo by Andy Kendal |
They're all at it - David Cameron going the wrong way down his one-way streets, Boris without his helmet, and everyone trying to save on petrol by digging out the ancient bicycle they last used as a student and wobbling down the road for the first time in twenty years. They may then find the truth in the old saying: "What is the hardest part of learning to ride a bike?" Answer - the pavement.
What do we two-wheelers find when we venture out on Hampton Court Way or the Portsmouth Road? Well, our all-caring council has painted some lovely lines at the side of the roads and called them "Cycle Lanes" and no doubt has congratulated itself on how much safer we cyclists are. As far as they go they are fine, but they don't go very far and have a nasty habit of suddenly stopping. No one can complain that they are not advertised clearly - on Hampton Court Way, which for part of its distance has a proper cycle path, there are 11 cycle signs (at what cost, I wonder) over a third of a mile stretch plus 5 empty posts awaiting signs, and of course, the numerous cycle logos painted on the pavement itself - a slight case of over zealousness perhaps! At least Elmbridge has so far avoided some of the nonsenses of other boroughs - although with our area plagued by bad drainage it's only a matter of time before they come up with a suitable warning sign for cyclists in floods!
Once we have made the decision that two wheels are better than four we can say to ourselves that we are saving money as well as saving the planet and forcing all those oil sheikhs into penury. The aches and pains we feel can be written off as the price for not needing to go to the gym. We can curse at drivers who come too close when they are speeding down Ember Lane but forget that when we are behind the wheel we too curse when we are held up behind a cyclist in the High Street. It's true that some of us don't bother with things like bicycle bells and think it's really quite fun to come up quietly behind a pedestrian on the pavement and frighten them and as for lights on their bikes at night - well, they are just for wimps.
Riding on our Elmbridge roads sometimes seems like dicing with death, with traffic whizzing past a few inches from our ears and potholes growing like weeds to catch the unwary, but cycling is on the increase and the need to take out a second mortgage whenever we fill up our cars with petrol will encourage more of us on to the roads. Perhaps the more there are of us on two wheels, the more drivers will recognise that the roads are for all users and we actually reduce congestion and save on our taxes since we don't create wear and tear on the road surfaces.We cyclists go along with Mark Twain who put it very well: "Learn to ride a bicycle. You will not regret it if you live".
John Lyon