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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ColinD" data-source="post: 1223062" data-attributes="member: 55409">I think that the perception of the dangers of cycling are overblown, and often used as an excuse by people who are basically too lazy to take exercise. In actual fact, the health benefits greatly outweigh the dangers.  However, I did buy myself a helmet the other day, and am just trying to get used to it. Much better than the old helmet I have.The defensive cycling piece as recommended by Karl is an excellent read. Whatever your feelings towards other road users, it's important to remember that in an accident, the cyclist will come out by far the worst, irrespecitve of who is right and who is wrong. So whatever your feelings about cars and motorists, I believe that you should treat them with respect and like you, I always thank somebody for stopping for me, often even if I have right of way. I think it's important to go on the roads with a positive attitude. Too many cyclists have an arrogant attitude towards other road users (an example is going through red lights), and I suspect they are the most likely people to be involved in accidents.On Saturday, I was on a 45 mile charity ride to Southport from work, with cyclists of varying fitness and ability. I stayed behind with a few friends for a while, but when we got to the last 5 miles, I sprinted off and caught and overtook the leader. However, as we came to a set of lights, they changed to red. I immediately stopped, but he went straight through without even slowing down, and had to swerve to avoid two cars, and just carried on his way. What a plonker :C Gives cyclists a bad name and gets motorists backs up. I made a point of catching him again and cruising past him making it perfectly clear that he had no chance of winning, despite his total lack of respect for other road users.On my way into work the otherday, I took a shortcut down a farm track, and came face to face with a fox. It just stood and looked at me, until I got within about 10 feet, then it slowly walked into the under growth. An amazing experience :t:</blockquote>

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