For the last year and a half, cycling has been my main mode of transportation. I ride a battery operated, electric assist bicycle with two child seats. My husband calls it the SUV of bicycles. I suppose it is, but the fact is, it is more effective and satisfying than any gas-fueled vehicle could be. You can read about it here and here.
However, like any manner of transportation, there is the risk of accidents. This is why we wear helmets, though luckily none of our mishaps have been serious. Let me take you through all the ways I have fallen off my bicycle...and other possible ways to fall. I have to point out that all of my accidents were the result of carelessness, and in the case of cycling after a snowstorm, a certain degree of recklessness. But I suppose many accidents are a result of those things. Perhaps my mistakes can be a useful guide of what not to do if you ever find yourself joining the legions of cyclists in the streets of Tokyo.
1. Underestimating the height of a curb.
The flow of traffic among pedestrians, vehicles, and cyclists is fluid, though surprisingly not chaotic. I often weave on and off sidewalks, like when a car is blocking the bicycle path. Although there are many driveways and other parts of the sidewalk where the curb is lowered, the curb can still have a pretty high edge for a bicycle. My first fall was on such an edge. Even though I had ridden over and off many without incident, I got careless. My front tire couldn't clear the curb, and I lost my balance and fell. My husband has also fallen like this. In fact, this is one of the most common ways to fall. The best way to avoid this is to approach the curb as close to a 90 degree angle as possible and proceed slowly.
2. Placing the kickstand on an uneven surface while your child climbs onto the seat herself.
This is obvious to most people. It might have been obvious to me if I had slowed down to notice. Japan is mountainous, and Tokyo is hilly. Bicycles here are equipped to handle the terrain with their electric assist and heavy duty kickstands. On this fateful afternoon, I had parked my bicycle on an uneven patch so that the bicycle was slightly slanting. This alone might have been ok, but my daughter also climbed onto her seat, putting additional weight on an already slanted side.
I didn't usually allow her to climb onto the seat by herself, but since this incident, we now have a hard rule against solo climbing. While this was not technically a fall, it was dangerous because the heavy bicycle fell on my daughter. Luckily, she only scraped her knee a bit, but it could have been worse.
3. Failure to fully engage kickstand.
On Japanese bicycles, there is a spring lock that usually engages when the kickstand goes down. This secures the bicycle, even on a slope. Sometimes the lock doesn't engage by itself, so you have to do it manually. As with #2, this doesn't constitute a risk of falling off so much as getting hurt in general.
I once parked on the downward slope of a hill. Trusting that the lock would spring into place automatically, I hadn't bothered to double check. E walked in front of my parked bicycle to talk to someone parked in front of us. At this same moment, a pedestrian walked past and lightly touched my bicycle. Although the contact was light, on a downward slope it was enough to disengage the kickstand and make the bicycle fall forward. Since I was standing right there, I was able to catch most of its weight, and the damage was minimal. E, my loyal passenger, has suffered the most at the hands of my slow learning curve.
4. Cycling after snow.
Tokyo snow appears a few times a winter, though it is not common. When it does fall, it is rarely enough to accumulate. For this reason, few city vehicles have snow tires. The city is also not equipped to handle snow accumulation.
This past winter, it snowed enough for a few inches to accumulate. The temperature then remained low in the following days. What would have been cleared in a northern city like Chicago stayed on the ground for days here, turning into ice. I naively set out on my bike two days after the snow, since most of it had cleared. Of course, I encountered a patch of road still frozen solid with a layer of translucent ice - so much so that you wouldn't see the ice unless you looked closely. Luckily, I was going at a snail's pace, so there were no injuries, just a shock to the nerves. My lesson here was don't test the Tokyo roads after snowfall.
5. Slipping on tiled sidewalks.
Most parts of Tokyo are paved with cement, but some are tiled. For instance, the walkway bordering Yoyogi Park has a tiled section, which turned out to be really slippery when wet. I had been warned about slipping on wet manhole covers but had not considered wet sidewalks.
This took me off guard a few days ago. It had been raining heavily in the morning, and I had passed through with E in the backseat without a problem. In the afternoon, the rain stopped but the ground was still wet. As I was passing through, there were a few pigeons on the path. I turned my wheel just slightly to avoid them. As soon as I did that, I felt the tire slip from under me, and before I knew it, we were down. Again, we were not going fast. E was secured in her seat with her helmet on, and I just bruised my leg a bit.
When I examined this tiled pavement more closely, I noticed that it was as slippery as wet bath tiles. My confidence suffered more than anything. Before this, I had ridden in rain and on different roads. Moreover, plenty of cyclists ride in the rain and through this area without falling. But now that I have experienced falling, I ride with some fear. While the fear will subside in a few days, the lesson will remain: be aware of your riding surface!
6. Maneuvering the bicycle with both kids on it.
One of the first mistakes I made after our mamachari purchase was trying to maneuver out of a parking space with both kids already on the bicycle. As commuter bicycles, mamacharis have heavy frames with a heavy battery to boot. Then there are the basket, the kids seats, and the kids themselves. It is difficult to overestimate the weight of a fully loaded mamachari.
I had loaded the kids first and then tried to back out of my space walking alongside the bicycle. I didn't make it very far. The weight makes it very difficult to maneuver the bicycle like this. It wobbled, I couldn't save it from falling sideways. Rookie mistake. Always load your kids after you have maneuvered out of a tight space.
Despite all these falls, I enjoy cycling through the city and feel safe doing so. Bicycle culture is ingrained in Japanese life. Here you will see preschoolers and pensioners alike commuting by bicycle. It is an activity that compels you to interact with a dynamic city and all its elements. It has made me feel more a part of my community and more at home in it. I hope you get to experience it if you visit Japan - and may reading about my falls prevent a few of yours!
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