[Hirsute]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-45312756

I’m sure if Lewis Hamilton said we should all wear fire retardant suits and crash helmets we would.
Does Thomas have a background in safety design?

Topic

[davel]

madcarew wrote:

madcarew wrote:

John Smith wrote:

It’s not me that’s wilfully twisting other people’s words? Where did I say I had little tolerance for other road users? It’s not me that said “inconsiderate group cyclists rather than individual solo cyclists.  I’ve had a bellyfull of this behaviour cycling”. All I said was that it is comparable to other road users. I made no comment on how much tolerance I have. Perhaps you need to calm down a little then you won’t get as annpyed with other cyclists?

 

As for the comment about “getting off the road” that may not have been the intention of Thomas but it certainly is what is intended when most people say it, and what he is referring to. I suspect he does not know what he is talking about and has little experience of real riding on the road among real traffic, without a team car to back him up or a coach and bunch of team members around on low traffic roads in the south of France, not your average UK cycle commute or after work ride, which makes up most cycling and most of the complaints from other road users.

This is silly. Of course G did the 100,000 miles riding it typically takes to get to world tour entirely cossetted by cars and teams, never spent evenings, days, nights in the dark and rain, and sunny bank holidays on club runs. 

No. He knows exactly what it is like in the trenches. He races 100 days a year. The other 260 days a year he is out on a real bike in real traffic. Hence the not irregular stories of pros having training accidents. 

Leaves 5 days off. The fanny.

[madcarew]

John Smith wrote:

It’s not me that’s wilfully twisting other people’s words? Where did I say I had little tolerance for other road users? It’s not me that said “inconsiderate group cyclists rather than individual solo cyclists.  I’ve had a bellyfull of this behaviour cycling”. All I said was that it is comparable to other road users. I made no comment on how much tolerance I have. Perhaps you need to calm down a little then you won’t get as annpyed with other cyclists?

 

As for the comment about “getting off the road” that may not have been the intention of Thomas but it certainly is what is intended when most people say it, and what he is referring to. I suspect he does not know what he is talking about and has little experience of real riding on the road among real traffic, without a team car to back him up or a coach and bunch of team members around on low traffic roads in the south of France, not your average UK cycle commute or after work ride, which makes up most cycling and most of the complaints from other road users.

This is silly. Of course G did the 100,000 miles riding it typically takes to get to world tour entirely cossetted by cars and teams, never spent evenings, days, nights in the dark and rain, and sunny bank holidays on club runs. 

No. He knows exactly what it is like in the trenches. He races 100 days a year. The other 260 days a year he is out on a real bike in real traffic. Hence the not irregular stories of pros having training accidents. 

[Griff500]

John Smith wrote:

 All I said was that it is comparable to other road users.  road users.

Its not comparable. Group cyclists have the option to break into smaller groups to make it easier for others (share), whereas the farmers and caravaners you quote have fewer options.  You yourself used the word “wilful” with regard to some group cyclists (despite earlier saying we cyclists all share and its everbody else’s fault). 

 

 

[John Smith]

It’s not me that’s wilfully

It’s not me that’s wilfully twisting other people’s words? Where did I say I had little tolerance for other road users? It’s not me that said “inconsiderate group cyclists rather than individual solo cyclists.  I’ve had a bellyfull of this behaviour cycling”. All I said was that it is comparable to other road users. I made no comment on how much tolerance I have. Perhaps you need to calm down a little then you won’t get as annpyed with other cyclists?

 

As for the comment about “getting off the road” that may not have been the intention of Thomas but it certainly is what is intended when most people say it, and what he is referring to. I suspect he does not know what he is talking about and has little experience of real riding on the road among real traffic, without a team car to back him up or a coach and bunch of team members around on low traffic roads in the south of France, not your average UK cycle commute or after work ride, which makes up most cycling and most of the complaints from other road users.

[Griff500]

John Smith wrote:

Griff500 wrote:

John Smith wrote:

Also, sharing the road is not an issue for cyclists, it’s drivers that can’t share. 

Yeah, right, its always somebody else’s fault. Admittedly failure to share the road when cycling usually comes down to inconsiderate group cyclists rather than individual solo cyclists.  I’ve had a bellyfull of this behaviour cycling in France over the Summer, even sometimes struggling on my bike, let alone the car, to get past the tourist brigades swanning around gaggle astern. 

 

 

I have come across the occasional group of cyclists who do genuinely hold up traffic with no regard for others, ignoring the rules on letting others pass, but very few and far between, and no worse that the problems I have had with caravans and tractors over the bank holiday and much less common. Huge club outings of 20+ in the Cotswolds are normally what I find, where it would be much better for them to break down in to smaller groups of 10-12 to make passing possible, but as I say, they are far less common that other forms of slow moving traffic. Generally what is meant by “share the road” is “cyclists get off the road. I hate having to slow for a second and pass safely when driving to work” not “I find huge chain gangs on the odd sunny Sunday annoying”

Now you are being mischievous. When G (and you refrence was about him) referred to sharing the road, he meant just that, not that one party should “get off the road”. As for the farmers working the bank holiday while you were on a day out? You certainly have little tolerance for your fellow road users.

[John Smith]

Griff500 wrote:

John Smith wrote:

Also, sharing the road is not an issue for cyclists, it’s drivers that can’t share. 

Yeah, right, its always somebody else’s fault. Admittedly failure to share the road when cycling usually comes down to inconsiderate group cyclists rather than individual solo cyclists.  I’ve had a bellyfull of this behaviour cycling in France over the Summer, even sometimes struggling on my bike, let alone the car, to get past the tourist brigades swanning around gaggle astern. 

 

 

I have come across the occasional group of cyclists who do genuinely hold up traffic with no regard for others, ignoring the rules on letting others pass, but very few and far between, and no worse that the problems I have had with caravans and tractors over the bank holiday and much less common. Huge club outings of 20+ in the Cotswolds are normally what I find, where it would be much better for them to break down in to smaller groups of 10-12 to make passing possible, but as I say, they are far less common that other forms of slow moving traffic. Generally what is meant by “share the road” is “cyclists get off the road. I hate having to slow for a second and pass safely when driving to work” not “I find huge chain gangs on the odd sunny Sunday annoying”

[Griff500]

John Smith wrote:

Also, sharing the road is not an issue for cyclists, it’s drivers that can’t share. 

Yeah, right, its always somebody else’s fault. Admittedly failure to share the road when cycling usually comes down to inconsiderate group cyclists rather than individual solo cyclists.  I’ve had a bellyfull of this behaviour cycling in France over the Summer, even sometimes struggling on my bike, let alone the car, to get past the tourist brigades swanning around gaggle astern. 

 

[Chocoface]

I see that Maria Sutton didn

I see that Maria Sutton didn’t serve her 4 year sentence for killing cyclist, drunk, hit and run, and is now out of prison early! Legal system rubbish 

[davel]

ConcordeCX wrote:

Hopefully Lord Sir Chris de Boardman, VC, DSO, Bart. will have a quiet word, and Geraint Thomas will say ‘oh yes, sorry about that, I take it all back’.

And the retraction will get the same amount of publicity.

Pretty much exactly what happened on Twitter. 

However, I’m not sure whether it generated the same amount of publicity. I’d place large money on the silver Merc mob who read the Times, and will have translated Thomas’s comments as ‘cyclist blames cyclists for their injuries and places equal blame on them for not sharing the roads’, will not be aware of Boardman’s comments.

[John Smith]

His comments have about as

His comments have about as much relevance to my cycling as Petter Solberg does to my driving down the A34. He even says he doesn’t cycle in London, and I assume anywhere urban if London frightens him that much. Unfortunately it won’t be seen that way by the media. He should have kept his mouth shut and stuck to talking about what he knows about, pro cycling. Training rides at 20 mph has no relevance to commuting at half that speed and people like him put the general public off cycling, making them think that it’s for the very fit and you need special kit. 

 

Also, sharing the road is not an issue for cyclists, it’s drivers that can’t share. Now, some cyclists do things wrong, but sharing the road with cars is not one of them. The size difference makes it impossible. I’m not sure how a cyclist could bully a car driver.

[don simon fbpe]

Puts reminder in diary for 26

Puts reminder in diary for 26/08/2038.

[vonhelmet]

Boardman is still relevant on

Boardman is still relevant on this front some 20 years after doing anything interesting on the pro cycling front, and I’m sure he’ll still be beating the drum in 20 years time. Let’s see where Thomas is in 20 years time…

[Anonymous]

Hopefully Lord Sir Chris de

Hopefully Lord Sir Chris de Boardman, VC, DSO, Bart. will have a quiet word, and Geraint Thomas will say ‘oh yes, sorry about that, I take it all back’.

And the retraction will get the same amount of publicity.

[don simon fbpe]

So he is a fool then, puts me

So he is a fool then, puts me right off Geraint and Team SKY.

[esnifador]

He does specifically suggest

He does specifically suggest they should be compulsory in the Sunday Times piece. The relevant quote is ‘I would certainly make helmets compulsory’ so it seems the BBC are reporting it accurately. As also suggested by the BBC article, he unfortunately seems to buy in to the myth that if we all just shared nicely it would all be fine: ‘The problem is that cyclists and drivers see each other as enemies. A cyclist can get cut up by a car and the driver has been an idiot, but 10 minutes later that cyclist is jumping a red light. You’ve got to share the road.’

Though it is still questionable why the BBC thought that was the bit that was worth making a story about, as it’s a very small part of the interview and isn’t dwelt on beyond reporting what he said. It is a shame that professional racing cyclists’ views seem to be given such weight when it comes to road safety. I don’t recall hearing any racing drivers giving their opinions on road safety or the importance of wearing a helmet when behind the wheel.

[Author]

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