KarmaCycle: jogger

Friday, 25 June 2010

Still a bit of confusion over "two tings" bike guidance on the Regent's Canal, London

I had a funny experience on the canal this morning which I can share with you as I had helmet cam on. Being the good citizen I now am, I was dutifully tinging away as I made my merry way down the canal in the beautiful sunshine.

I went past the two lady joggers you see first with no problem. But when it came to the men - well, it was just odd that the reaction on hearing the tings was to run diagonally across the path. I kind of guess he was thinking "I have to get out of the way" while I was thinking "I'm just warning them I'm here". I sort of think this is probably the source of all canal conflict. In fact it's probably how most wars are started - unclear intentions and misinterpretion. Discuss.

The Cycle of Karma

When you're cycling around 100 miles a week through London, you develop some strange notions. The one I can't get out of my head is that you build up karma - good and bad - depending on how you cycle. So - if you stop at red lights, wait politely for pedestrians, smile at cars, you get rewarded - the next light turns green for you straight away, someone smiles back at you - you get the picture. Of course this doesn't always work, but it works often enough for me to try to cycle by those rules. Most of the time.