Guardian piece on attitudes to cyclists

Ush wrote:

http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/television/george-youre-the-crim...

The circa 10 minute video manages to encapsulate nearly all the hatred and privilege that car drivers feel.

Deranged. Sounds like someone in a pub a good 6 pints in.

alotronic wrote:

I find a lot more nerve-wracking than riding faster by myself.

Agreed, when I ride with MrsChuck we're a lot slower and it feels like we're on the back foot more than when I'm going quicker on my own. Dunno if this is because drivers are, for example, that much more likely to nip past to get to a mini roundabout just ahead than they might be if we were going a bit faster. But it feels like we don't have as many options and I feel more vulnerable.
Personally I definitely feel less comfortable taking the lane when I'm going slow enough to not even be in the same ball park as the speed of the rest of the traffic.

alotronic wrote:

More interesting is that story that's linked from it about female riders getting TWICE the amount of stick from motorists because of (assumed) lower average speeds. I have always thought the ability to kick up to 25mph is an important survival skill and not sure how I would cope without it. While I am sometimes just annoyed by cycling infrastructure I can see it has a role to play in encouraging (and protecting) slower cyclists - and this includes myself when I am out with the family, which I find a lot more nerve-wracking than riding faster by myself.

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/jun/11/female-cyclists-bad-...

I'm exactly the same. I think many people are. The faster my acceleration and top speed, the more I feel I have to bargain with. I can train to get faster, but I can't do anything to make going slowly less terrifying.

I don't WANT to go fast in my neighbourhood. I don't want to break a sweat just to go shopping. I don't need my town as a racetrack; there are thousands of miles of countryside for my Tour de France delusions to unfold in. I just want to get where I'm going. Preferably at a reasonable, steady pace; rather going either flat out, or awkwardly stuck behind an endless line of cars. It doesn't matter how fast I can max out at for 5 seconds if I'm frozen in traffic for 5 minutes.

I think a lot of roadies who are scared of having to lower their pace when using dedicated cycle infrastructure forget how much time they spend on their commutes not actually riding their bikes at all.

An efficient transport network is quicker than one with a theoretically high top speed.