A Portobello cyclist had a narrow escape from a potential collision with two balaclava-wearing youths riding motorbikes on a community cycle lane. Kathy McEachan, 53, was travelling to a friend's house on East Brighton Crescent in Portobello when she was forced to stop and give way to the young yobs.
The incident occurred at around 8:40pm on the popular Christian path on Thursday June 30. The path is used regularly by a variety of dog walkers, young children, pedestrians and cyclists.
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The first youth raced past Kathy on the back of a dirt bike and another followed shortly after on a more “powerful” vehicle. The incident left Kathy feeling rather shaken and other members of the community suspect that the motorbikes may have been stolen.
On the incident, she said: “I was travelling on the Christian path between St Mary’s Road and Brighton Place. You can normally only fit one person along the path and if you are walking you often have to step to the side to let a cyclist past.
“The path is very overgrown at the moment as well which makes it even more narrow. I was coming to the end of the path by the barriers when a young lad came crashing up on what appeared to be a dirt bike as it had thin tyres.
“I had to take avoidance, they were not going super fast, but were still travelling too fast for a cycle path. I was a bit peeved off and the young male in a grey balaclava did not even look like they had thought twice about what they were doing.
“About a minute later his friend, who was also wearing a balaclava came down on a much more powerful bike that was a lot bigger. My first thought was that they looked like neds to be honest.
“I managed to get the licence plate of the bigger bike after the rider had eye balled me as they were going past. I shared this on a local FB group hoping that maybe a mum would recognise the licence plate and give them a clip round the ear.
“But to be honest I was probably being naive as other members of the group said they were probably stolen. When I got to my friend's house we could hear them coming back down the path again. It is quite scary as young kids use this path all the time due to its location.”
If you notice antisocial behaviour involving motorbikes in the capital then please contact: Jacob.Farr@reachplc.com
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