Had to happen sooner or later!
I’ve been commuting through all the bad weather we’ve been having in Plymouth, without a single mishap. True, we didn’t get the amount of snow as other parts of the country, but we still had a fair bit. Of course, we had the rain, which led to ice. And through it all I was OK on the bike. Cold at times, sopping wet quite often, but OK none the less.
Until this morning!
Cycling to work on the black bike, I was on a shared-use pavement going down a hill, past Plymouth railway station. There was a hint of ice on the ground, but I wasn’t concerned, especially given that I’d cycled the same route when there was a lot more ice.
What was different today was the man heavily occupied with his mobile phone, who swung his large shoulder bag as he was walking underneath a sign that causes the pavement to narrow. The end result was that there was nowhere for me to go! I tried to swerve and brake at the same time, with rather predictable results!
The next thing I knew I was sat on my rear end while skidding downhill for a good ten meters or so. Other than my fragile male ego nothing was hurt, which is a good thing!
Now don’t get me wrong: I’m not heaping blame onto the guy with the phone and the luggage – fact is if I was going a tad slower (I knew there was ice) then it probably wouldn’t have happened. Having said that, if he a) looked where he was going, b) was not three times as wide as the average person and c) didn’t swing his enormous shoulder back so it was next to him then there would have been enough space for me to safely pass him.
Oh well, it could have been a lot worse and I’m glad neither me nor the bike collided with anybody or anything.
Also, I guess now that’s reset the Law of Averages’ counter, so it should be a long time before I fall again!