雪が積もった後の自転車走行が危険なのは経験者は分かると思います。それは普段走る歩道の除雪ができていないので、除雪されているとはいえ狭くなった車道を走らなければならず精神的にも恐怖だからです。
それで、本日は買い物と用事を兼ねて彦根駅まで電車で行くことにしました。最寄りの駅までは自転車でと向かったところ、以前はできていなかった駅前の除雪が今回は綺麗にされていました。ところが、いざ駐輪所に自転車を止めようと近づくと駐輪所前の除雪がまったくされていない！今日は月曜日。自転車で駅まで行ってそこから電車通学の高校生もこれでは困っただろうと思いました。少し戸惑いましたが、とりあえず頑張って雪の中に車輪を突っ込んで自転車を止めて、また雪の中を踏み込んで外にでて駅のホームに行きました。
無事に用事を済ませて再び多賀駅に帰ってくると、駐輪所前は朝と同じで除雪なし。駅を出る時、ホームにシャベルが立てかけてあったのが見えたので、あれを借りようと駅に戻るとホームの除雪をしてきたと思われる男性が二人。私がシャベルを貸してほしいと頼んだところ、男性は私と一緒に駐輪所まで来てくれて私の自転車を確かめてシャベルで雪をどけて親切にも自転車を出してくれました。男性二人のお陰で助かりましたが、その後、その場の雪かきをする様子はなかったので、夕方帰ってきた高校生たちは困るだろうなと思いながらも駅を後にしました。
人手不足もあるのでしょうが、駅前の除雪をする人が少し考えれば駐輪所前に雪があっては自転車を止める者が困ることは分かるだろうにと、何とも情けない気持ちになりました。
Every bicycle rider knows that riding a bicycle after snow accumulation is unpleasant and dangerous. I usually take the sidewalk to ride instead of the street but nobody clears the sidewalk of the snow. So, I need to run on the street where it becomes much narrower because of the snow. I don't like to run on the street because there is a lot of traffic and big trucks pass by me and it's very scary for me.
Therefore, I decided to go to Hikone to buy groceries and do my errands by local train. I rode my bicycle to the station. There was no problem getting to the station, but when I approached the bike parking lot, I was in big trouble because I couldn't reach my bicycle due to the snow which wasn't eliminated at all. Since there was no choice but to park my bike in another place, I pushed my bike into the snow and took it under the roof to park there.
When I came back from Hikone a few hours later, the situation at the bike parking lot area was the same as before. Since I saw a shovel at the station, I went back there and asked the men who seemed to be working at the station to use it to eliminate the snow in order to take my bike out easily. They came with me and asked which bicycle was mine. Then one of them kindly took my bike out from there after another eliminated the snow with a shovel. I was lucky but I thought that many highschool students who parked their bicycle there must have had trouble taking out their bike, just like me.
I understand the shortage of labor, but it is ridiculous not to remove the snow in the area. It is a lack of imagination!
