Safety First

“If you don’t have a helmet, you don’t ride” shouts the exasperated Jawwad from Beirut by Bike who is looking after the team. This is never enforced, in fact people seem oblivious, despite the four accidents on the first day in Syria, including one who would have smashed her skull without a helmet, instead of breaking her nose. (There was also a journalist lying in the road for a good photo: he hadn’t recovered consciousness by the evening.)

People are complaining about the Arab girls’ ways of cycling, especially Palestinians and Syrians. They are not too stable, and stop and turn (and wobble) without warning. Jawad helps to explain: “It is not allowed to cycle in this country especially in Damascus, so they have no experience. We sent them to the gym 3 times a week for a month before the ride but it is not enough, and not enough to get any street sense.” Steph, the attendant first-aider and Elaine’s staunchly supportive sister chips in: “They cycle around holding their food and their water and bags in their hands, and wonder why they can’t keep control of their bikes”.

We are supposed to be empowering women by encouraging them to ride; many say that it is a breakthrough for them just to be allowed to be on a bike, which is great. But what price? We are probably lucky that nothing worse than a broken nose happened.