This feature originally appeared in the Scotsman on Friday 17 February
TWO years ago, former project manager Ian McNicoll made his regular commute home from work by bike, passing along Cowgate and up the Grassmarket in Edinburgh city centre. He couldn’t put his finger on why, but something felt wrong. “I didn’t have an incident, but I got scared one night in traffic,” he said. “It’s very narrow, there are cars coming down with railings on either side, and you’re just boxed in. That night I said to myself, ‘I’m not doing it again’.” He stopped cycling.
Mr McNicoll’s son, Andrew, never had such thoughts. A committed yet safety-conscious enthusiast, Andrew rode to work daily as an insurance officer at construction firm Balfour Beatty from his home in Balerno, to the west of the city, and at weekends with other members of the Edinburgh Road Club. He was ready to cycle the 47 miles of the Pedal for Scotland charity race in September, and wanted to accompany his stepmother, Lynne, as she attempted the challenge for the first time.
On 5 January, Andrew was killed while cycling to work on the Lanark Road. Police cannot confirm the full details, but it is thought an articulated lorry, of the sort that bend in the middle, forced Andrew off the road and into a parked car. He died of his injuries at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary hours later.
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