Approaching the north end of Southwark Bridge. Left hand feed is queued to turn left. Right hand feed is queued to turn right on to Upper Thames street – two lanes with a cycle lane on the inside. I’m coming down the middle and as I reach the front, the lights change, so I carry on into the junction and stick my arm out for as strong a signal as possible.
I begin to turn right and across, to get to the bike lane.
Next thing I know, someone on my right is leaning on the horn. Glancing right, I can see a taxi plowing across my path, forcing me into the path of a lorry that has decided to turn right from the left-hand feeding queue. Just for a second, I thought I was about to become yet another squashed London cyclist.
Further on, when I caught up to the taxi at the lights, we had a, er, conversation.
As his final argument was “**** off you old ****”, I backfisted the bodywork and left him with a dent that will need repairing.
Amusingly enough, the cyclist behind me actually said “Leave him, it’s not worth it”…
1: The north end of Southwark bridge is really dangerous, if you cycle it at peak periods, take extreme care.
2: Though cars are heavy, their bodywork is not very thick.