Cycling blind spots

The Manly Steed and I had a near miss the other night, and rather ashamedly I must admit that it was probably my fault.

We were heading back from a 32 mile Twycle training ride and I was pretty knackered and focused primarily on how fast I was going (trying to keep the speed at 17mph or above) rather than paying a huge amount of attention to my surroundings.

Traffic was fairly light, and as I came to a roundabout I followed the road up to the left before realising that I had taken the wrong exit, and should have carried on straight. I was still on the main throughway of the roundabout and hadn't actually exited, but all intents and purposes I was taking that exit.

With a quick glance over my shoulder I simultaneously swerved back towards the correct exit, realising at the last nanosecond that there was a car traveling at great speed along beside.

He screeched to a halt and swerved away from me, I screeched to a halt and swerved away from him, and then we engaged in a Mexican standoff before he sped around the roundabout once more and I moved onto the pedestrian island.

What transpired next was a large amount of frenzied shouting on behalf of the driver, and me calmly standing next to The Manly Steed and trying to stop my heart from beating out of my chest as he pulled up alongside me and swore at me a great deal.

So: was I in the wrong, or was he?

Frankly, I don't believe that for the purposes of this blog that it matters. What does is something my old drving instructor drilled into me - always check your blind spot.

That quick glance over my right shoulder gave me the split second between seeing and trying to avoid a threat, and cycling straight into it. Fortunately, the man who swore mightily was paying attention as well, and it was disaster averted.

When we're out and about, especially when we are tired we cannot allow ourselves to lose track of where we are in relation to everyone else.

I should have signalled, and I should have paid more attention to where I was going. It's another lesson learnt, so please bear it mind and learn from my mistakes.

Not everyone has The Manly Steed to take care of them when they are out and about...