I’m at the 10th World Safety Conference in London. Lucky, I know. I was hoping to rent a bike and go for a ride around town, I mean the city. Ride on the left, hmmmm, I thought I could figure that out. That was until I started practicing walking on the left, and trying to figure out which way to look before crossing the street. I grew up at the beginning of the “look left right left” era of crossing the street. It is as ingrained in me as the ingredients of a big mac, (you remember – “twoallbeefpattiesspecialsaucelettucecheesepicklesonionsonasesameseedbun.”)
Needless to say, I am enormously grateful for the painted signs at the intersections that tell pedestrians in London which way to look before crossing the street.My new mantra is look down to figure out which way to look then follow instructions. It is completely unnatural for me. That was my first clue that renting a bike might not be the greatest idea.
Then I noticed all of the bike lanes. Hmmmm, I thought again, if there are signs on the roads for bikers, then that might help me figure it out. But problem number 1, I have a fear of looking down when I ride. And here’s the confession that goes with that fear, when I was in high school, I was a life guard, long days in the sun, swimming, watching kids swim, and more swimming. I was riding my bike home from work one day, kind of drifting off into a daze watching the pavement, when a parked truck had the nerve to pop up right in front of me. Boom, down I went. Bent my bike up pretty good. (I was fine, luckily, but the fear remains.) A long way to say, that watching street signs, those painted on the street, while biking might not be such a good idea.
That’s when I saw it, ….coming over the top of Westminster Bridge, ….Big Ben in the background, the road sign for bikers to end all road signs:
End Bike Lane
The End of the Line
So now I am curious, what is a cyclist to do when they realize that their dedicated bike lane is about to be eaten by the bus lane? For now, this cyclist is going to keep practicing walking on the left and reading directions before crossing streets. Maybe if I can figure that out, I’ll try biking at the end of the week.
