Winter Cycling - from a driver's perspective

On Tuesday last week, on that foggy frosty morning, I wasn't cycling , but I did need to get somewhere by car. After scraping the ice of the windshield and then waiting for the car to warm up to get the demistifier into action I was finally on my way.

It was the first time I had been behind the wheel during the morning rush since I had started biking to work a couple of months back, so I was trying to take particular care to watch out for my new fellow cyclists.

What I realised is that driving in rush hour in London is not great and while, trying to peer through a misty windscreen on a foggy morning and negotiate the numerous potholes, it can be easy to miss that cyclist undertaking you on the left (something I frequently do) as you fight for space on the road with the other motors all around.

The point of this post, is that driving in London in the winter especially at rush hour can be quite stressful, so as a cyclist we should do what we can to make sure we are safe. I'm not saying make sure we should all be lit up like a christmas tree, but to ride responsibly  by doing things like maintaining a good road position i.e. not to close to the curb and leaving a some extra space between yourself and the vehicle in front.

I don't want to sound like I am being negative about cycling, I just want cyclists to think from a drivers perspective. I still think cycling is one of the best ways to get around London, regardless of the weather and I encourage everybody I know to try out two wheels.  Actually I think the more drivers who have some experience of cycling, we have on the roads the safer it would be.

As Atticus Finch says in To Kill a Mockingbird "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."

Winter cycling posts in the blogosphere:
Tips to keep you cycling safely this winter from the London Cyclist
Are you ready to cycle through the winter from ibikelondon
Men in tights from The Trusty Steed

Riding into the wind

I've previously expressed my enjoyment of riding in the rain, but now I have to tell you how I just do not like riding into the wind!  It feels like your wheels are been dragged through treacle. Add going uphill to the mix, and it feels like somebody has attached a bungee cord to your back and you're pedalling furiously to escape.

Maybe I just need more miles on the road to build up my strength, or this is one part of cycling that just won't get any easier.

Riding in the Rain

I don't know what it was, but the other night while there was a bit of drizzle in the air, my journey seemed a lot faster. It felt like the bit of rain on the roads made the surface like a smooth track and it was as if I was flowing across the tarmac.

As others walked home shielding themselves from above, I sliced my way through the moist air without a care that as getting hit by rain drops.

So instead of battling against the weather, cycling uses it to it's advantage.

Let's see how it goes as it gets colder.