A note about bikes

4578, that's how many times I've almost been run over by a person on a bicycle in Japan so far during this stay. I’ve been here for 52 days so you can do the maths. When you come to Japan you get warnings about earthquakes, tsunamis and typhoons, you get briefed on how to survive such things. But what you don't get is information on how to avoid the cyclist and they are by far the most immediate threat to life and limb. Now if you were in London and you read that sentence, you would imagine courier riders whizzing past, cutting through cars and jumping traffic lights. But that isn't the problem here in Tokyo. Tokyo is like the Netherlands, although not being especially flat and I’ve only seen one windmill, everyone does seem to ride a bike. You see all sorts on bikes, school kids, businessmen in suits and businesswomen is skirts, tights and high heels, old folk, young folk, everyone has pedal power. But unlike the Netherlands there is no demarcation of space. There are no cycle lanes, or pedestrian lanes, so cyclist swarm everywhere, on the road, on the pavements, and all points in between. That means as a pedestrian they are often coming at you from all angles. You dodge one coming towards you only to make one behind you swerve out of the way. Rain doesn’t stop them, they will ride bikes with their brollies up. Phone calls don’t stop them and nor do urgent text messages. These are multi-tasking cyclists. But by far the most dangerous are the mums and kids. It’s amazing how many children one person can get on a bike. One on the seat on the front, one on the seat on the back and one strapped to the mother’s chest. These two wheeled people carriers whoosh and whizz past you at breakneck speed and with ninja style reflexes that help them swerve in and out of danger. They are the SUVs of the cycling world and their riders are fearless. On a more practical point, I don’t know how they do it, I can barely peddle myself let alone three other humans. These mums must have calves of steel, peddling their whole family to school or wherever it is they are going. It’s a sight to behold. 

If I die here in Tokyo, it won’t be from a quake or a storm, it will be from injuries sustained in a biking collision.