When I first started writing as "The Fragile Cyclist" I wrote the following as my first piece. If you're curious about my rather strange name, then read on to understand it a little better!
I have been searching some time for a word which describes how I feel when I cycle in heavy traffic. I have had my fair share of traffic incidents, cut-ups, near misses and altercations, and I also had an unfortunate “accident” involving a truck – I may write about this at a later date. These things make me feel vulnerable on my bike, but cycling also enriches my life in a way that is impossible to describe, bringing a sharpness to my senses which enlivens many aspects of my life, both on and off the bike. Cycling is a wonderful thing, not inherently dangerous but threatened by danger – something which is beautiful, but fragile.
I moved to Liverpool in 2003 from Hull, where there were many 20 mph zones and where cycling felt comparatively safe. My bleats of panic about conditions for cyclists in Liverpool were heard by surprised local cyclists who didn't exactly see what I was complaining about. They perhaps thought I complained too much, but I thought they'd got used to a bad job, and that they'd stopped seeing just how bad it was.
One experienced cyclist friend told me of a conversation he had recently had with Liverpool’s then new cycling officer, where my friend remarked that not all cyclists were as “leather-backed” as he was. I was reminded of the many cyclists who are too scared to use anything other than off-road facilities (like my father), and still others who would ride their bike more (or at all) if only it was “safe” (like two or three of my colleagues). There are many, many latent cyclists, who are just a short step away from appreciating cycling as the wonderful, life-enhancing thing that it is.
As a campaigner, I sometimes wonder who we are campaigning for. The leather-backed time-served cycling warriors who ride hardened down the most treacherous of main highways? Or the fragile cyclists, who still need to take that tiniest of steps?
So now I nominate myself as representative of tentative or not-yet cyclists everywhere. I may say things that others feel pour cold water on a good idea, but I shall speak for the man or woman who does not like cycling through parks in the dark any more than he/she likes cycling in heavy traffic. I shall speak for the Fragile Cyclist.
If you want to read more of my earlier writing, you can find it in my archive here.
