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Guardian piece on attitudes to cyclists

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  • July 4, 2015 at 8:05 am #852049
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    CGT

    I used to ride a singlespeed
    I used to ride a singlespeed to work.
    There was a really big hill so had to have gearing to get up it.
    However that limited the top speed to about 15mph or so and I really noticed that not being able to keep up with the traffic made you a lot more vulnerable. You have to pull in and out of the side of the road and have more cars overtaking.

    Once I got back on the road bike I was able to get up to traffic speed for the busy bits and made it all a lot less intimidating.

    July 3, 2015 at 4:09 pm #852047
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    Quince

    alotronic wrote:More
    [quote=alotronic]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-driving-harassment-study-uk-women-men-near-miss%5B/quote%5D

    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.

    July 3, 2015 at 3:27 pm #852045
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    vonhelmet

    Ush

    Ush wrote:
    http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/television/george-youre-the-criminal-matt-cooper-slams-newstalks-george-hook-on-ireland-am-31349206.html

    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.

    July 3, 2015 at 2:22 pm #852043
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    Ush

    http://www.independent.ie/ent
    http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/television/george-youre-the-criminal-matt-cooper-slams-newstalks-george-hook-on-ireland-am-31349206.html

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

    July 2, 2015 at 8:42 am #852041
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    Chuck

    alotronic wrote: I find a lot

    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.

    July 2, 2015 at 8:23 am #852039
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    alotronic

    More interesting is that
    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-driving-harassment-study-uk-women-men-near-miss

    July 2, 2015 at 8:01 am #852037
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    antigee

    as ever enjoyed the quotes
    as ever enjoyed the quotes from Chris Boardman, sad that the media created a non-story that he had to react to

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