Hitting the mean streets of a European capital requires a little thought. What if I hit the mean streets?
Armed with a helmet and a mask, I navigate street by street, corner by corner, light to light and of course car to car.
Enjoying the enormous flexibility of moving through a city on a bike. I wonder how difficult and inflexible other vehicles are to navigate, buses, trucks and ships.
Unfortunately, it is very very dangerous compared to driving.
A cycling friend from Cambridge once described how the health benefits of cycling outweigh the dangers associated with falling off a bike. Personally, I think nothing outweighs a bus or a truck but never the less he argues that the exercise the average cyclist experiences in their life, offsets against the dangers.
When I approach cars, I squeeze between the gaps, careful not to hit them or their wing mirrors.
Moving between the gaps, I have to move left or right depending on the angle of each set of cars and how close together they are.
Footpaths offer some relief when trapped behind large obstructions. No two cars are spaced the same distance apart and as I move past two cars and then the next two, I wonder, how will the United Kingdom, following a big red bus, navigate traffic and trucks through European ports or sail a ship without a captain?
How will the U.K. negotiate so many new agreements and E.U. deals with so many international partners, ports and airports?
I´m sure it is just like riding a bike, you never forget but has England made many international deals, on their own, recently?
With so many contracts to be agreed before BREXIT takes effect and I imagine a lot of movement on the mean streets of European capitals (and money markets) what stabilizers will the U.K. use?
Brexit negotiations are not unlike riding a bike, an uncomfortable ride with many uphills to painstakingly drudge up. Almost impossible at first and difficult to maintain any traction, dangerous in traffic and deadly if you make a mistake or fall through the gaps. Scary with hostile European drivers all around and just like the old adage about cycling, I guarantee you,
WE ARE NEVER GOING TO FORGET IT.
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