Rules are Rules........annoyingly

What a great day on Monday, beautiful weather, felt good cycling in - short ride on the Brompton - taking it easy this week. The muscle strain in my thigh seemed to be easing, all looked good.

Issued a Thank you email and got a phenomenal response especially from those in Manchester. So what could possibly go wrong...........

Home time came and off I trotted. Usual route to rendezvous with my wife at her work, adhering to all the traffic signals until the one where I always take the left turn if the road and crossings are clear.

What awaited me - about 8 police officers waiting to catch cyclists for running red lights. Oh what joy.

Yes the Rules are the Rules but lets remember the rules of the road have been created and are set by CAR drivers. Lights are designed to change to accommodate car speeds which can make a bike ride very frustrating. Many accidents to cyclists are caused by vehicles turning left because they didn't see them patiently waiting beside them for the lights to change which wouldn't happen if we had a similar rule to the US where you can turn if the the way is clear.

I make no excuses (nor did I try to be met with a shaking of head and disapproving tut) for breaking this rule but I do feel we need to create rules that work for all road users - here are a couple of examples of why we allow Car to be King introduced under the assumption that it makes things safer!

- Cycle lanes normally end just when you need them most eg narrowing of roads etc
- Cycle paths along major roads have to give way to joining minor roads when a cyclist on the main carriageway would have right of way

There are bad drivers and bad cyclists and I take my ticket on Monday very personally and will reflect on it and learn, I will also attend the training which will allow me to forgo the £30 fine but I am sure the class will all be about strictly following the rules and not teaching practical survival skills which sometimes may mean bending the rules - SAFELY.

I never wish to tempt fate especially pre a long tour which will be on busy roads so need to stay positive and not change too radically those skills that have kept me safe to date.