Thomas
Hey all,
Well, I first started commuting with my cheap 'n' nasty bike back in May, going the measly distance
of five miles each way, occaisionally going through a spell of being honked at by various BMW-
driving luvvies.
Then I moved to Battersea, which increased the commute to a slightly more respectable seven miles
each way. Since then, I've rarely been honked or suffered from a cager's inferiority complex. Alas,
't was not to last. Last week, I managed to have a driver (going around Hyde Park Corner) turn *on*
to me, forcing me in the path of a fast-moving lorry, another driver decide that my position on the
road was a prime target when exiting a junction, and a national express coach overtake me at a
respectible distance, only to then turn suddenly back towards the curb, causing me to bump off his
rear, so to speak.
However, I've been pretty good at catching up and confronting drivers who honk at me: until today.
Going up a steep hill towards a junction, lights on red, I hear a honk behind me, turn around a see
a mercedes, so naturally slow down to a crawling pace and then drop beside the driver's window to
enquire what part of my cycling technique has displeased him so. He pointed me towards the taxi
behind him... and that driver pointed to the car behind him, who was now looking rather sheepish.
Alas, I had now shouted at three drivers at a junction, all behind me, and with a motocyclist beside
me looking very dissaproving.
You just can't win.
Tom.
Well, I first started commuting with my cheap 'n' nasty bike back in May, going the measly distance
of five miles each way, occaisionally going through a spell of being honked at by various BMW-
driving luvvies.
Then I moved to Battersea, which increased the commute to a slightly more respectable seven miles
each way. Since then, I've rarely been honked or suffered from a cager's inferiority complex. Alas,
't was not to last. Last week, I managed to have a driver (going around Hyde Park Corner) turn *on*
to me, forcing me in the path of a fast-moving lorry, another driver decide that my position on the
road was a prime target when exiting a junction, and a national express coach overtake me at a
respectible distance, only to then turn suddenly back towards the curb, causing me to bump off his
rear, so to speak.
However, I've been pretty good at catching up and confronting drivers who honk at me: until today.
Going up a steep hill towards a junction, lights on red, I hear a honk behind me, turn around a see
a mercedes, so naturally slow down to a crawling pace and then drop beside the driver's window to
enquire what part of my cycling technique has displeased him so. He pointed me towards the taxi
behind him... and that driver pointed to the car behind him, who was now looking rather sheepish.
Alas, I had now shouted at three drivers at a junction, all behind me, and with a motocyclist beside
me looking very dissaproving.
You just can't win.
Tom.
