“Primary Feathers”

Here we see the current brood of ducklings pedalling frantically in the wake of their instructor. At this early stage, their plumage of hi-vis and helmet is already well developed, but despite hugging the left bank of the local backwater their line tends to the chaotic. Observe them learning the rules of the road and practising their signal skills, as they line up in the cul-de-sac below us, eddy one-by-one left into the mainstream then right into the opposite cul-de-sac, repeat to return. Be safe younglings! There are impatient predators behind you, meaning to carve you up.

Clare Bryden “Primary Feathers”, The Jawbone Journal, Issue 3, Summer 2026.

My bit of suburbia is used by local schools for cycle training. I love it! I love dangerous impatient drivers less.