A while back I did a wee rant about the state of the roads in Glasgow being a danger to cyclists, and that the money the council spends promoting cycling was basically being pissed up against the wall, as people would be reluctant to take up cycling considering the state of the roads. Well, here's part 2, which justifies my initial rant.
Someone I know in work who also cycles in daily, and is in fact cycling daft (his idea if a relaxing weekend usually involves about 60 miles on the bike). On Sunday he was out on a bike run with another work mate, and on the way back into Glasgow, coming down the Switchback, his front wheel hit a pothole. He went over the bars, hitting the other cyclist, who somehow managed to stay on his bike. Being clipped in, when he went over the bars, the bike came with him. He's now in the hospital with a double skull fracture.
The guy who was with him thought he was a gonner, as he was making a "death rattle" sound in his throat. Fortunately, he's still alive.
After accompanying him to the hospital, his mate headed back up to the site of the accident to take a photo of the pothole, but guess what, it had been filled in. Funny that. The police apparently have photos though, as if he had died they would have been needed for a fatal accident inquiry.
Just shows, someone is almost killed and the pothole gets filled just like that. Would it have been filled if he hadn't crashed on Sunday? Call me cynical, but I doubt it.
3 comments:
This makes me angry as I know only too well how dangerous the potholes are. Some of Ibrox's lesser travelled roads are turning into gritty tracks. The potholes on the Broomielaw are edging towards 'maws' again. I'm just getting back on the saddle after a good while off. Your most dangerous factor whilst cycling shouldn't really be pothole-before-cars now should it?
I really hope your friend pulls through with nothing worse than scars. xxx
I remember when roads were in good enough condition that you didn't actually need a mtb to cycle on them, a road bike was just that, a bike for the road.
Even though I ride a mtb, it's a hardtail with no suspension forks. I'm seriously thinking about upgrading the front forks to suspension, purely because of the condition of the roads.
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