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Do not touch suspicious objects
- Location
- East Hampshire, UK
I read between the lines of your first post, thought to myself "I bet people will fly off the handle reading that", and then made my reply as I could see you were basically asking for anecdotes and incidents that were what we thought of as "our cycling". I'm sure we all have horror stories as well as good stories, and for me, they both make up what I consider as "my cycling".
I think you have inadvertently struck gold in the way of responses. Those who interpreted your first post as mocking their dangerous experiences clearly felt very passionately about them. I do as well. Anyone who's ridden a bike for long enough will have one and it's something that can provide cyclists with solace amongst their peers - they're in the same boat. You can see by the number of replies and the candour of their tone that they are sore from the aggression and derision. It's an easy nest to stir up and you should write about this. Dig around and find out why it's such a sore point, what could make it better.
I do not drive a car but my understanding of drivers is that they also get cut up and experience others' bad driving, but it's not something that affects them in the way it does with cycling because of the danger element that the latter is subject to. I may be wrong here - most users on this forum are also drivers, and they may correct me. There's a camaraderie to be had amongst those who have suffered.
We also have positive experiences, and I prefer to consider my cycling to be positive. I'm naturally fit, strong and healthy as a result of cycling. I stopped to watch a goldfinch the other day after he flew past me. He landed in the hedge and with me stationary on my bike we watched one another. A very grounding, natural feeling to it. He probably thought I was mad, with my silly hat and strange wheels. If I had drove past, we'd both have lost out. I love to see the wildflowers growing on the verges. I came across a fellow cyclist, half-way up a hill, examining what she explained was "borage", a herb I'd never heard of. She told me it's good for the bees, that's why she likes it. I asked my Mum if she'd heard of borage and she said "oh yes, it's good for the bees!". If I'd have drove past, we'd all have lost out. Little things like this happen all the time. It is like seasoning scattered across my life.
I wave at strangers, say "Hello!". We're not really strangers, we share something in common, so it's normal to be genial to one another. We stop if we see another by the wayside, just in case they need help. The grizzled tourer with his rider doesn't need help, he was probably fixing bikes before I was on them, but granddad with his grand-daughter do - her pink Barbie scooter suffered a loose screw and I had a tool to help. She looked wide-eyed at my panniers and said they look too heavy to ride on my bike. "It's alright" I said with a twinkle in my eye "my legs are magic!". I rang my loud ding-dong bell as I left and they waved back. I remember them, and they'll remember me. If I had drove past, we'd have all lost out.
The seasoning you get on your every-day life is what makes cycling precious. The dangerous episodes - the time I was dragged down the sides of three parked cars by a caravan - they're something I never forget, but I'm not on the bike for those. I'm on it for the borage and the Barbie scooters, the goldfinches and the strong heart.
