Mostly, the roads have been friendly for cyclists. A white line dividing the traffic lane from a paved shoulder, which ranges from a meter to a car width provides a safe zone for cyclists. But on occasions, I was left wondering, are these roads safe for cyclists? Where no identifiable shoulder exists we were left to share the traffic lane with cars keeping as close to the right edge of the paved traffic lane as we could. The edge of the pavement drops 5 to 10 cms onto gravel which is often hard to negotiate on a bicycle.
Today, Loretta and I were clinging to a one foot shoulder on the paved edge. A huge truck, which I had no seen in my mirror, passed very close to me — inches it seemed. I looked ahead to Loretta who saw the truck approaching. She drove off the pavement onto the gravel maintaining balance and enough speed to pull back on the pavement when the truck had passed. On technique we have developed to survive the roads never meant for bikes.
As we pulled out of Schreiber the road provided a wide paved shoulder enabling us to take full advantage of a long friendly hill. At 40 kph, I see an approaching drain which I swerve to avoid. As I pass it, I notice that two grates are missing, creating a hole that would swallow a bicycle wheel. I experienced a terrifying moment as I watched Loretta approaching the spot in the road not daring to shout a warning. She swerved to avoid it, by inches.
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