- Baz -
Active Member
- Location
- Manchester
This is the second week of my commuting by bike into Manchester city centre (7 miles each way). Just one scary moment so far where I had to pull the anchors on (my fault for not regarding all drivers as potential idiots - and yes I own a car). I'm slowly gaining more confidence, but...
Tuesday morning and it's drizzling. There I am, sitting behind a bus at traffic lights, foot on kerb, glad of the opportunity of a breather and to rearrange the tackle a bit, so so speak. Traffic is stationary in two lanes. Out of nowhere, there's this guy on a bike, T-shirt, shorts, minus helmet, young and lean on a not-so-young but lean machine, doing about 10 mph between the two lines of traffic. That was the last I saw of him. Since I didn't hear the sound of a crumpled bike and rider, I can only assume that he disappeared into the distance and arrived in town a couple of light years before me.
Now I'm writing this out of admiration, not censure. To have that level of confidence and skill, to me, is awesome, and I reflected on this as I trundled on my way at a steady 15 mph average, trying my best to avoid pot holes, slippery lines and drain covers, glancing over my shoulder from time to time and remembering to change down before stopping...
I'm sure there must be many here who have the same level of ability as this guy, so, notwithstanding all the stories of near misses and collisions that I try not to think about as I set off on each journey, what is it really makes for this level of commuting mastery? Does it come with experience, or are there natural risk-takers and risk-avoiders? Or am I just getting old?
Edit: BTW, I'm 54
Tuesday morning and it's drizzling. There I am, sitting behind a bus at traffic lights, foot on kerb, glad of the opportunity of a breather and to rearrange the tackle a bit, so so speak. Traffic is stationary in two lanes. Out of nowhere, there's this guy on a bike, T-shirt, shorts, minus helmet, young and lean on a not-so-young but lean machine, doing about 10 mph between the two lines of traffic. That was the last I saw of him. Since I didn't hear the sound of a crumpled bike and rider, I can only assume that he disappeared into the distance and arrived in town a couple of light years before me.
Now I'm writing this out of admiration, not censure. To have that level of confidence and skill, to me, is awesome, and I reflected on this as I trundled on my way at a steady 15 mph average, trying my best to avoid pot holes, slippery lines and drain covers, glancing over my shoulder from time to time and remembering to change down before stopping...
I'm sure there must be many here who have the same level of ability as this guy, so, notwithstanding all the stories of near misses and collisions that I try not to think about as I set off on each journey, what is it really makes for this level of commuting mastery? Does it come with experience, or are there natural risk-takers and risk-avoiders? Or am I just getting old?
Edit: BTW, I'm 54