Riding to work

Whenever I say, "I cycle to work", people go "Oooh, that must be terribly dangerous and scary".

Well, to put it bluntly, it's not. The greatest hazard that I faced this week was failing to unclip my foot properly as I slowed to a halt and I almost fell over whilst still clipped in.

Most of my ride to work is undertaken on either totally segragated cycle paths, or along cycle lanes that have been painted on the side of roads that are not too busy. I ride over the ANZAC Bridge, but when I state that, most people think that I am riding in one of the four traffic lanes. Suicidal I am not. The ANZAC Bridge has a lovely, wide cycle/foot path down one side, and it's about as wide as a normal car lane.

I have crashed on the bridge - I hit a bit of packing foam as I was doing a sharp turn at the end of the bridge and the front wheel went out from underneath me. The same nearly happened again today when I hit the remains of a rodent that had been squashed onto the road, except that I was not turning quite so sharply, so the bike simply bounced sideways a bit as I went over the red and grey lump of ex-rodent.

There are still a few hazards on this bike path, like the RTA never bothering to replace blown light globes in a spot where it is impenetrably dark at night, and the odd idiot who walks on the wrong side of the path where bikes are prone to hitting 50km/h or faster as they belt down off the bridge. But those hazards are easy to deal with and none too common.