Cycling tip du jour, Friday. How to calm down after a near miss or angry incident

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Motorcycle News

I needn't dwell on the details, but I had a terrifying moment yesterday - a little bit of politeness on my part - allowing a fellow cyclist to go ahead of me - with me slowing right down - nearly saw me mown down by a motorbike rider who'd shot off from nearby lights at full throttle. Of course he swore at me because as far as he was concerned I was a xxxxing idiot in his way and hadn't got out of the road.

OK, we can talk about blame and whether I shouldn't have done the polite thing, whether the design of the road is right, whether motorbikes should take more care etc etc. But the issue for me is - how can I prevent something like that eating away at me, and stop me simmering with resentment....? How should you calm down after an incident like that?

A few responses from friends on Twitter certainly helped:

muppixdotnet @karmacycle learn to ride a motorcycle yourself, then surround yourself by typical cyclists. Guarantee you'll learn a lot.

lardychap @thefixedfactor @karmacycle zen. Works for me. That and the knowledge that being angry doesn't bother the other person at all. Fixed helps

moriati23 @karmacycle Several days of bitter resentment and fantasising about 'Great Escape' style motorcycle + wire revenge is the only way to go.

thefixedfactor @karmacycle Zen. There are a million near misses in London every day. There are two million angry people. You don't have to be one of them.

sussexlad @karmacycle ah, motorcyclists. always surprising how they are not our side isn't it?

 

It's so darn difficult to stop yourself getting angry, but I think the Zen answer - or, as I've recently put it - calm-a-cycle - is the only way to go. Somehow, to remember that you are not alone, that it does not help to get angry, that there is nothing you can usefully do, all helps. In a slightly defeatist way.

 

I've also wondered, on a more constructive note, if us cyclists should in some clever way join forces with motorbike folks - online of course - and share a few experiences and thoughts (in a nice way) so we get a better understanding of needs/priorities/fears.

 

Does anyone know if a such a forum/place exists? Would us cyclists be welcome on a motorbike board?

 

Anyway, I'm feeling much more zen-like this morning after a nice ride in today - so have a good weekend all, and remember - calm-a-cycle

Should you dismount when told to do so?

I had two moments on my ride this morning when I was told by a sign to dismount. The first was on the Regent's Canal, just West of the Zoo, where there's some work going on and you have to go on to a jetty thing to get round it. I made a judgement: the dismount sign was probably for my own safety - in case it was slippery on the jetty - or because if there are lots of people it could be a hazard. I looked carefully - there was no-one in sight - so I biked carefully over the jetty. No harm done.

Then I went through a residential area just above the canal. I would normally dismount as there's a bit of a blind corner. But this time I decided I wouldn't, as every time I had dismounted before, I'd literally never seen a single pedestrian coming my way. But this time, of course, there was a pedestrian and although I was creeping along slowly, she was clearly angry (I got the impression this was quite a regular local issue) and told me off, said there could be elderly people coming through, etc etc. I tried to explain that this was the first time I hadn't dismounted but she was clearly angry and didn't want to enter into a conversation.

I left feeling guilty and angry. I got to thinking about the hundred times I had dismounted, but no-one had noticed my good work (!), and how you can ruin cyclists' reputation by one moment like that.

I sort of think I should write a little note and leave it by the bike sign explaining my point of view and apologising if she was shocked when I appeared, and that perhaps I should shout loudly whenever next go through and do dismount, alerting everyone to the fact that cyclists do dismount ... but there's another part of me which says - just forget it, and next time you go through, dismount.

Anyone out there got on any views on whether we should always dismount when we see the sign?