Please don’t overtake me over the top of the railway bridge on Haughton Road. It’s not wide enough.
Hint: that’s why I was riding in the middle of the lane.
Lucky you got in to the left before going head on into that car coming the other way, eh?
So, please don’t do it again, thanks.
Another regular annoyance on my ride to work, is the red Astra that parks over the bike path exit on Borough Road.
This short length of bike path allows cyclists to legally bypass the No Entry on the northern end on Borough Road, and forms part of one of the main radial routes into town, as well as being on the Sustrans NCN14 route.
When heading into town, cyclists using the bike path alongside Haughton Road have to cross the entrance to Bannatyne’s gym and then use the filter to get onto Borough Road. As shown in the Google Streetview below*.
This isn’t the easiest manoeuvre and is made harder by the fact there are also often pedestrians crossing in the same place, so cyclists have to watch where they’re going while looking behind themselves back up Haughton Road for gym members turning left, forwards on Haughton Road for people turning right and into the gym car park for people heading for Haughton Road. Add in people sometimes driving out of Borough Road, or the access the the Bannatyne’s HQ, which is also behind you, but on the left and behind a wall and you’ve got a situation that’s not made easier by the parked car!
I’ve reported the car to the police via email, with the above photo (but with visible car reg plate) attached, so look forward to their response.
(*Incidentally, if you have a look up the bike path on the Streetview photo, you’ll see that there’s a family on the bike path. Doing the illegal, but safest, thing of using the pedestrian side of the segregated path to avoid them at the point they were photographed would have you heading for a bin.)
Karl McCracken, our guest speaker for Friday night has a post on his blog about pinch points and the hazard they present to cyclists.
This struck home to me, because there are three pedestrian refuges that I pass in quick succession on my way home from work each day which have caused me more than a few worrying moments recently. Actually, it’s not the pinch points that cause the problem, it’s the average motorist’s inability to judge speed and distance that causes the problem, and this inability is highlighted at these pinch points.
The first isn’t too bad, but there are often parked cars around making the approach trickier. This is also the point where cars “released” from the throughabout back down the road catch up with me, meaning a nice succession of cars to pass me.
The second is a bit trickier, as it’s on an odd bend just after the top of a slight rise in the road and before a descent. It is not wide enough for a car to get through at the same time as me yet I often have cars desperately trying to get by me here. I often ride down the following hill swearing and gesturing to the car (now) in front of me.
Then, still swearing, I meet pinch point number three where another car races past.
There’s another one just after this, but I turn off here (squeezing past the car-for-sale parked half blocking the pavement, but that’s a separate rant).
I’m going to be taking Karl’s advice for dealing with these from now on:
I’m trying a modified technique:
I. Will. Own. That. Road. (Girlfriend).Never mind this looking over the shoulder and pulling across if it’s safe – my moves will be accompanied by the full arm-out hand signal, and I will be riding through these kill zones at about 50-60% of the distance from the road’s edge. I will be doing this on every single one, and only IF when I get into one, I find that it’s ridiculously wide, will I then pull across to let cars pass safely.
It’s time to reclaim the streets
At the Council Cycle Forum, we were asked for ideas for making the crossing of the ETC cycle path over Arnold Road cycle path safer, as riders on the ETC were able to carry a lot of speed down the slope.
We pointed out that it was a bad idea to take cyclists down a hill and then back up again, and we should have been taken onto the bridge, so it’s a problem that should never have happened. Nobody suggested anything (other than a monster under the bridge), so were were told to think about it for next time.
This morning on my way to work, I noticed some spray paint marks on the cycle path, which look like the markings for where to place some barriers. We hope that this isn’t the case, as it would effectively make the route unusable for anyone with an unusual bike, a trailer, panniers and possibly even people with kids on the back. If barriers are needed, ones with no gate and a large enough gap to allow unusual bikes and trailers through would be preferable and would still slow bikes down adequately to avoid a collision.
Update: Have heard back from Council. Barriers should be 3 metres apart, which sounds ok. I agree that something is probably needed to slow down cyclists, but worry that they will attract ‘yoofs’ and associated broken glass.
Update: Had a look on my way home from work and got some funny looks pacing out the gap between the paint marks. They’re ten of my shoes apart, which is about 3 metres (I have big feet). Even after pacing them out, they look closer than that, which is why I was concerned this morning. I could get my relatively long bike between them fine, and think a trailer would get through too.
According to the Northern Echo, the Darlington Eastern Transport Corridor is due to open tomorrow.
We will be very interested to hear from any members who use the route over the next few days. Please either leave a comment here or email on darlocycling@googlemail.com, with your opinions and experiences. Please tell us whether you used the on- or off-road options and where you were going from or to. For example, tomorrow I will be riding on the road from Haughton Road to Haughton Road, heading into town on my way to work and from off-road from Haughton Road to the ETC on my way home.