#cyclesafety

One Thousand Bodies Art Installation, Cork, Ireland, Saturday 16th June 2018

Screenshot of my ride from home (in Harrow) to Paddington station. Also my first time using Strava :D

Positives: End of training week 1 and 1 week closer to the big Ride from London to Paris, beautiful views along the Grand Union Canal

Negatives: caught in (what felt like) a torrential downpour 5 mins after heading off from Paddington. 100% soaked. 

- Oh yeah, and almost getting hit by a car..... 

It’s taken me a little while to find the right words for this post. I’m still not sure it’s right but it’s here anyway.

On the 18th September, Leeds Cycling Campaign held a remembrance ride for cyclist Andrew Willsea who was killed on the 18th August. It was covered in the Yorkshire Evening Post here. I went along to show my support and express my sadness that this should have happened. It was deeply moving. Some speeches were given in City Square in Leeds before the ride set off to where the ghost bike was laid at the site of the accident.

I think, for me, the event was so sad because it could have been anyone of us riding that evening, it just happened it was this father of six. And things need to change so that this doesn’t happen so frequently. Cyclists need appropriate space and infrastructure. But also, the people who cause these accidents through dangerous driving need appropriate sentences for the magnitude of their crimes.

This is a hot topic in cycling and it’s been all over the media over the last couple of days with Chris Boardman cycling on BBC Breakfast without a helmet, which caused some controversy among some critics. However, he was not breaking the law or going against the advice of the CTC which you can read here. The argument is that the health benefits of greater rates of cycling outweighs the safety risk of cycling without a helmet.

http://www.ctc.org.uk/campaign/cycle-helmets-evidence

His response to critics was to suggest that in parts of Europe where cycling is part of the culture helmets are a rarity, and for cycling to become a normality we need to move away from this need to protect ourselves with high visibility clothing and helmets. Also, countries that have introduced compulsory helmets have seen a large decline in cycling rates. You can read more of his response here. http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/campaigning/article/20141103-campaigning-news-Boardman--Why-I-didn-t-wear-a-helmet-on-BBC-Breakfast-0

I find all of this very confusing. I have always been brought up to where a helmet and have recently invested in a new high vis jacket which is super bright. I feel much safer and more visible to traffic since I have been wearing this. And I wouldn’t dream of cycling on the road without a helmet on. Though, in actual fact you are more likely to be involved in an incident if you are wearing a helmet as drivers pass helmeted riders more closely than those without http://www.bath.ac.uk/news/articles/releases/overtaking110906.html. However, I don’t think this is all there is to think about. What if I was to skid on some ice in winter and hit my head on the curb? What if a pedestrian walks out in front of me? It’s not all about traffic…

It’s all very confusing and conflicting evidence and discussion but I won’t be cycling without a helmet any time soon.

P.S. Quick addition, I just came across this video from British Cycling, the caption says that a helmet is the most important peice of cycling kit... Everything is so contradictory!!!!