Cycling UK Forum

to pick up on some earlier postings. the french seem to have a higher level of politeness in general. make unintended eye contact and the french are likely to say "bonjour" instead of "who the (expletive) do you think you are looking at?"
we rode past and parked our bikes near what i would consider to be the local town tuffs, not a word uttered to us. one "gang" asked if they could look at our bikes! Class!
having rode back in england now i am thinking of something i thought i would never type, perhaps the french are better drivers than us now, perhaps they always were!

Spent an enjoyable evening in a French bar complete with phrasebook and agreeable drunken company on the recent French bank holiday. After much gesticulating, drawing and translating we understood the following to be the gist of the conversation!
"A bike in France is a symbolic tool of the lower ordered proletariat, a car is the tool of the affluent bourgeoisie and aristocracy. If a car should knock over a cyclist then it is seen deep in the French psyche as an attack on the peasants by the ruling classes. This is the stuff of revolution! Somewhere in the French conciousness says there are fewer heinous crimes than ploughing over a cyclist. Because of this a car driver will afford respect and patience to a cyclist rather than spark another 14th July 1789."
It was quite a long night and if the above is not true then it remains a good tale.

NewHorizon wrote:

GPL wrote:i must add that i'm quite heartened that others are getting roundly abused too.

Funny way of looking at things!

I suppose it is, New Horizon. I was building quite a complex thinking only I was copping all the abuse! Just got back from France, they shout encouragement, Fantastic.

Just got back from France, loved it. Do it! Cant believe how much more enjoyable cycling is over there, Cant wait to get back there but have minimal desire to ride here.

thanks to all who replied, made me feel heaps better about it all, ill be off now, a tout a l'heure

i got a roll of carpet from my mum and dad for my 24th birthday, 8ft X 6, took it as a sign they wanted me to move out. they handn't even wrapped it, was still in its brown paper and factory string.
my in laws went to america on holiday, they said they couldn't find me anything to bring back!

my mate also bought a £4.99 computer, rates them highly. the batteries ran out in his other one and the replacements were going to be £4!

I'm on the eve of my first cycle trip to Brittany with my "come to cycling late" buddies. We agreed at the outset to cast aside our middle aged ways and take it as it comes. Over the past few weeks I have sort of become offical leader. I'm suddenly the map buyer and route planner. My "French in 15 minutes" course hasn't gone too well. I managed to book and pay for the ferry for all! My pals are bombarding me with questions. I can feel my bottle going rapidly.
The one question I would love to ask is, should I worry about finding a B&B in 6 different locations. I haven't booked a thing but now I'm nervous. Does anybody know? I should be losing sleep with the tingle of anticipation not worry. Thanks.

i must add that i'm quite heartened that others are getting roundly abused too. i was getting quite a complex thinking it was only me. and how bizzare, an ex work colleague of mine has just rung me, i gave him my spray can tale. a white van man plumber threw a length of 22mm copper tube at him! times must be good in plumbing i thought all spare metal was now weighed in.

my latest! cycling along sunday evening enjoying the quieter than normal road i was blissfully unaware of a car going at my pace at my side. a yoof was leaning out of the window, arm extended, with spray can in hand. don't know what the substance was but it was windy and more of the stuff seemed to be blowing back into the car. of course the sequence of traffic lights were then all green and i was left behind, another for experience!

hi, i am not a "cyclist" but i cycle a lot. i'm an outsider to the sport looking in. i never thought i would end up on a cycle forum. its not my passion but can feel it could be, i started as a commute to free the car for my wife and young kids. 400 miles per month on any sort of cheap hand me down selection of bikes. i never missed a cycle whatever the weather and just carried on for the next 20 years(and hopefully more)
i started to join the proper cyclists at work on their trips away mainly for a night on the pop. when this fell away i started going out on my own when i fancied, no rules, no set routes, no predetermined times or mileages. i won £1500 on a works lottery and bought a new bike. i was shocked when i was called "the cyclist" by a younger generation at work. in may i am going to france on a cycle trip that i have planned, devised and so far paid for with the aforesaid younger generation!
i absolutely love the literature of the greats, love the televised tours and admire anybody who gets on a bike. i like looking in on the politics and protocols of a sport i know very little about. i know i will have become a proper cyclist when the local cycling club deem me worthy of a nod.

what you have to remember Jan is that an idiot will always drag you to their level and then beat you with their experience. i find myself praying that around the next corner the car will have fishtailed and embedded itself into a lamp post. its so hard not to react.
in my village the youths, from time to time, howl like a dog when a cyclist passes, what really does go on in their heads? i have taken to wearing "right in your ears i-pod ear pieces" with no music on, i can still hear the traffic but not the mandatory petty abuse. if i am ever engaged further i pretend that i am singing and give a cheery "hi" and a wave. Sad, on all counts, i know but it works!

Apart from the usual, unwarranted abuse, bad driving etc 2 things really bug me. One-Cyclists who look you up and down for having the temerity just to say "HI" to them.
Secondly, bike shops who take the mick out of you when you clearly don't know as much as them. rather then help they announce to their regulars (who are always looking and not buying) just what an idiot (with a Grand in his pocket) has walked in. 3 shops have lost my trade due to this. i should name them! One of them also runs a club whose members look you up and down.....Grrr