Blimmin' London drivers. I was in the right hand lane of the New Kent Road coming up to the Elephant RAB, to head round to the lovely bus and bicycle lane up to St G's Circus. Little blue car behind me has to get past at all costs, so skims my left elbow as I pull out onto the roundabout. OK, fair enough, I'm sure you're a lot more important than me.
Then I'd just pootled out of the northern end of St G's Circus when, blow me down, the same little blue car, which has had to take the longer way round past St G's Cathedral, is hurtling up behind me and, doing about 40mph at a guess, skims my right elbow at the same time as giving me a delightful "poop poop" on its hooter.
Naturally, I caught up with little blue car by the Old Vic and, all polite like, asked what that was all about. Window was compliantly wound down, and driver says, accusingly:
"I nearly knocked you off your bike!"
I am speechless.
"There was a bus coming the other way and I had to pull in", she adds, as if that might help matters.
I remain speechless.
"You shouldn't have been in the middle of the road"
I am beginning to think angry thoughts. Is she going to tell me I don't pay road tax? Or that I'm not even wearing a helmet?
But I remember that cycling to work is generally quite pleasant and, although this morning was cold, it was bright and dry and I wouldn't want to spoil it all by getting angry.
And then I get a bit angry. Frustratingly, I am unable to sustain the anger because the motons were all stuck in a queue and I was free to roll.
By the time I was on Waterloo Bridge, my head was full of sunny thoughts again, such as "I'm getting to work nice and early, which means I'll be able to waste a bit of time sharing my commuting experiences with the good folk of YACF.
