It was a terrifying
moment when the world seemed to revert to slow motion, and I thank God for that
because had it not I would have killed him.
I was on my way home
in the early evening gloom of a December day, it was slow progress as it had
been for months due to major road works and I had sat through two light change
sequences before my journey finally got underway.
Well when I say “I was
on my way home” I was actually on my way to pick up my wife Tina first which is
why I was driving down Maybury Road.
It was a single track,
one way street running parallel with the railway line from Sheerwater into
Woking Town Centre which is heavily tree lined along the railway side and
predominantly terraced housing on the other.
It’s quite a long
stretch of road and runs as straight as an arrow and under normal circumstances
such a stretch of road might tempt you into excessive speed.
However running on the
left hand side of Maybury Road is a cycle lane and on the right
intermittently parked cars which narrow
the road dramatically and this combined with very poor lighting and a significant
number of side roads a cautious 20 to 25 mph was the order of the day.
So it was under the
afore mentioned conditions that I proceeded along Maybury Road towards Woking
Town centre.
I had just about
reached halfway when I saw a well-equipped cyclist ahead of me in the cycle
lane I slowed to 20 mph as I passed it, leaving as much room as was possible
given the parked cars on the off side.
I safely passed the
cyclist and was just beginning to think about increasing my speed but instead I
took my foot off the gas as I neared the rear end of a parked Ford Transit van
and just as I did so another cyclist appeared from the darkness heading
straight for me.
He had been riding
along the pavement when a number of pedestrian inconveniently blocked his path
so he swerved out into the road and straight into my path.
He was dressed in dark
clothing and the bike had no lights so he was almost invisible and I only
spotted him at the very last second as the van had turned on his lights.
I slammed on the
brakes and slewed the car sideways so my front end way blocking the cycle lane,
fortunately the bike I had passed had not caught me up.
The whole incident
took little more than a second yet seemed to run in slow motion, I think if it
hadn’t I would have him.
Of course time didn’t
really slow down it was just the way my brain processed it.
I missed hitting the
hapless bike rider by the width of a bike wheel and we finished up with him
sandwiched between me and the van.
But quite unperturbed
he picked up his bike and wriggled between me and the van and was quickly on
his way.
I on the other hand
just sat where I had come to a stop with my heart pounding in my chest.
My hands gripping the
steering wheel so tight my knuckles were white, and there I sat until I heard a
tapping on my passenger door window
“Are you alright?” A
muffled voice asked
I wound down the
window
“Are you alright?” The
voice asked again
It was the girl on the
bike I had over taken a minute or so earlier
“Yes” I replied “it
just took my breath away”
“Bloody idiot” she
said
That’s a bit harsh I
thought to myself I didn’t do anything wrong
“Its idiots like that
that give us cyclists a bad name” she said indignantly
And she gave me a
smile and was on her way.
Just at that moment
the driver behind me sounded his horn which brought me out of my torpor and I
drove off.
When I met Tina
outside her building I got in the passenger side and let her drive.
I recounted the story
of what had happened and then reflected on what might have been.
Had I not backed off
the gas when I did, or had the van not turned on his lights when it did it may
have been a tragedy rather than an anecdote.
