There I was cycling up Battersea Rise riding up the left of a long line of stationary traffic. I was just passing the entrance to Emanuel School and I saw a van waiting to pull out. He decided to wait just until I was abreast with his bonnet before driving out. The outcome? He hit me and pushed me against another car. Luckily he and the other car were going slowly. I managed to pull myself up and fearing that my bike had been damaged pulled it onto the kerb.
I confronted the driver.
Driver: “I didn’t see you”
Me : “Well you should open your eyes then!”
Driver: “You were speeding”
At this point I lost my rag,
Me:”I was only doing 5 f****** miles an hour. I was on a bicycle.”
It got worse. I then tried to grab his keys fearing that he was going to drive off. At this point I thought my back wheel had been trashed.
This seemed to animate the man and he scrabbled for his key before reversing up the school entrance and out of sight.
Me:”I’m calling the police!!”.
I then went to look in my bag, but had forgotten my phone. I checked over the bike, which was okay and then rode off.
The moral? Try not to lose your temper because it serves no purpose. Also watch out for idiots in vans driving with their eyes closed. What worries me is that there could have been a child crossing the road. Would he have still done the same and just pulled out before checking the road was clear?
Scary thought.