Toms View of the World

I’m going to die.

Given that every trip I make to or from work on my bike involves at least 2 near-misses with idiots in cars - I’m sure it’s only a matter of time.

To the idiot in the Honda Civic yesterday - Don’t park close to a junction (rule 243), and when you do pull away, look in your mirrors in case there’s a vulnerable cyclist about to pass you (rule 152), and then use your indicators (rule 103). No doubt you were taught to Mirror-Signal-Manouever when you learnt to drive - why don’t you do it?

To the idiot in the Taxi, those road markings mean GIVE WAY. This means you stop. You don’t drive out right in front of the cyclist who is already half-way across the junction.

To the idiot in the Ford Ka - I was going uphill - you pulled onto my side of the road to pass a parked vehicle - why did you not give way to me and force me to take evasive action. Is another persons life really worth saving 10 seconds on the school run? Can you imagine when your child explains to her teacher “Sorry I was late, Mummy killed a cyclist”

I already make the assumption that everyone else on the road is out to kill me, and I ride as defensively as possible - but sometimes it’s just not possible to avoid these morons.

Following a fairly problematic ride home from work yesterday - which started off OK, but about half a mile from home there was a little “ping” noise, followed within a few seconds by the rear wheel starting to vibrate and wobble alarmingly.

I stopped (well, it was that or have a potentially nasty crash)

It appears that the wheel had a failure of at least one spoke, resulting in the rim quickly distorting.  The wheel is no longer round, or straight (altough that’s not clear in the photo, the obviously broken spoke is visible)

Due to the expense of getting this fixed (I don’t have the tools or knowledge to rebuild a wheel myself), I’ve decided instead to bring forward my plans to replace the bike - rather than spend a lot of money on this one, I’ve decided to spend even more money on a shiny new Dawes Discovery 401 from those nice folks at Tredz (who although mainly an internet retailer, have a “brick and mortar” store here in Cardiff)

I’m hoping to be able to salvage a number of the accessories from my old bike - lights, computer, carrier rack and so on, rather than spending even more money replacing these - and will likely end up spending my weekend getting the bike ready to run.

To the motorists of Cardiff (and elsewhere).  Please remember these points…

• Cyclists cannot stop instantly.
• WE ARE NOT TELEPATHIC - use your indicators!

When you’ve done something stupid (like a 180 at a mini-roundabout, outside a school, without signalling), and a cyclist has had to take evasive action to avoid a crash, don’t look at the cyclist with an expression that seems to say “what are you doing?”

Remember, you’re nice and safe in a steel shell.  Cyclists aren’t.  If we collide, the chances are that you’ll barely feel it, and I’ll be dead.

As the UK authorities like to say to drivers “THINK!”