Design Flaws that have me Floored
I've cycled for years and wanted my son to share that joy. He started with a balance bike at 2, and now we cycle to school daily. We wear helmets and high-visibility vests. We use bike lights at all times of the day, and we ride in a courteous manner. He's becoming quite skilled despite frequent falls. Kids are resilient; he always gets back up. I'm proud of him, and he's probably learned from seeing me deal with a few tumbles myself.
Reflecting on my past cycling experiences, I realize that as I age, previous injuries remind me of my vulnerability. I've often blamed myself for losing concentration or speeding into a bend, but I've come to understand that many of these incidents should not have occurred.
Before I had my son, I had an accident on the canal path on my commute home from work. After overtaking a man walking his dog, I checked over my shoulder to ensure I had passed safely. My front wheel clipped the slick wooden edge on a narrow grass section, causing my bike to flip. I fell, injuring my knee, and ironically ended up face-to-face with dog mess. Despite the pain and embarrassment, I put on a brave face and cycled home using one leg, sobbing along the way. The impact resulted in torn hamstring and calf muscles, requiring me to walk with a stick for several weeks before I could ride again.
Although my bike slipped on wooden sections a few more times, I was usually prepared. Eventually, much of the path was resurfaced, though that particular section across from Perdiswell, remains as a reminder to never veer to close to the edge of the path.
The offending edging, still there, trying to taunt me
Recently, I experienced another fall, this time during the school run. The route to my son's school has clearly defined pedestrian and cycle paths separated by a white painted line, with Give Way lines on the cycle path and different brick styles at junctions. The first fall occurred when wet leaves covered the path, causing my back wheel to slip as I turned a corner. I went down in front of other parents, injuring my elbow and bumping my head, even though I was wearing a helmet. It was an uncomfortable ride home and I had to start work late as I needed to deal with my injuries.
The Autumn fall is beautiful
But I really don’t like an Autumn fall
The leaves were cleared that weekend, subsequent school runs proceeded without incident, and my wounds healed.
The past week or so, due to road works on Droitwich Road, I have utilised the dirt track to avoid traffic.
Deep roots are said to strengthen you
While initially safer; my hybrid bike handles the off road element along with tarmac, but as I entered the designated cycle/pedestrian path, my back wheel slipped on a raised white line as I navigated the bend, causing me to be thrown from the bike and down the small incline.
Where two worlds collide
Crashing down to earth
I collected my son from school with a large bleeding gash on my elbow. The teacher was concerned, but my son found it amusing. My fall also hurt my knee, and I had to remove my ripped clothes from the wound once I was home. That evening, my son suggested I take a break from cycling. Solid advice.
Ouchie
The following morning, we cycled to his Scout hut and back, despite my aching body protesting. I finally rested on Sunday and resumed the school run Monday morning, though very slowly, and primarily using just one arm on the handlebars.
Sharing my experience with friends, I found that others have also slipped on these raised white lines, sometimes falling off their bike with resulting cuts and bruises or having to leap off in dramatic style. So not just me then.
Although the lines are meant to separate pedestrians and cyclists, their purpose is unclear to me. Many people understandably push pushchairs on the cycling side due to smoother bricks so as not to disturb their child, while some pedestrians often don’t realise that there are designated sides, again at no fault to them. Elsewhere in the city the designation is inconsistent. On the whole they’re ignored, and whether people are on foot or wheels they simply avoid each other, regardless of the lines.
I’m pretty sure the design intention is not to increase the risk of crashes for those of us riding bikes, but this is the consequence. The new Kepax bridge thankfully doesn’t have these lines to segregate users, just simple signs showing that it is a shared space, so I question as to whether anymore paint should be installed.
Hold on…news just in…there’s a shared use path in Warndon that hasn’t been resurfaced, but contractor’s have reapplied the paint down the middle. Super slippery, and they have literally just painted over the cracks.
Whoever is making these decisions clearly isn’t using the infrastructure for it’s intended purpose, and they have possibly never ridden a bike. I’m happy to meet them and go for a spin to share first hand the experience; get in touch in the comments below.
