Take it easy
Well I’m a rollin’ down the road
Tryin’ to carry my load, I’ve got seven women on my mind,
Four joggin’ in front of me,
Two walkin’ dogs beside me,
One pushin’ a pram behind.
Take it easy, take it easy,
No need to hammer through the park quite so breezy.
(with apologies to the Eagles).
Last week I was cycling back from a hill rep session near the Cardiff Bay barrage. It was a nice quiet day, the sun was hidden behind broody dark clouds and a young family approached me on the shared path from the Cardiff end. Queue lunatic ‘cyclist’ (or more accurately ‘person on a bike’), speeding between the prams and tottering toddlers, alarming the parents and embarrassing me into apologising on behalf of cyclists everywhere. A moments courtesy costs nothing and prevents the lasting impression that cyclists are selfish, dangerous or both. With this experience in my recent memory, I’m lending my full support to yesterday’s addition of warning signs on the path at the college entrance to Bute Park (‘Araf – Slow’ and the standard shared path sign pictured above). A shared path is just that (the clue is in the title) and sticking to some simple ground rules keeps everyone honest; cycle respectfully around others, dogs walkers keep pets on leads and runners be aware of both bikes and dog walkers (low MP3 volumes please).
Anyway….After hacking their lyrics to bits, it’s only fair to give the Eagles the last word (below). Take it easy.
‘it’s a girl, my lord, in a flat bed ford, slowing down to take a look at me’
Hi simon, that section of the path can be real bad on a busy day, a cycle/pedestrian bottleneck.
I’ve done that too, found myself saying sorry on behalf of those that are too ignorant/arrogant to share the space correctly. Don’t get me wrong, some of the pedestrians need to also understand that, yes, this is a shared path, a cyclist is allowed to ride here and please help by not all linking arms with Granny and blocking the path ( plus it brings back flash backs to the miners strike). Perhaps we should re-hash the words from the old coke advert.
‘I’d like to teach the world to ride/walk in perfect harmony’
Amen!
(it was quietly busy lunchtime today and dead as a door nail on the day of the incident above. However agree totally; courtesy absolutely cuts both ways).