Cycling UK Forum

Letter in todays rag in Leicester http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/l ... ticle.html

"Real cyclists in my opinion obey the Highway Code.

They walk their cycles if proceeding in the wrong direction along a one-way street, nor do they ride on the pavement when there are pedestrians on it." etc etc

also "On the subject of safety, why are cyclists allowed to use flickering front and rear lights?

These lights are useless on poorly lit and unlit roads, so why aren't they illegal?"

Where do these people come from?!

It's hard to imagine that many of these letters aren't manufactured by the newspapers themselves, as they are so perfectly stereotypical that it seems impossible any real person would write them.

You do wonder what makes cyclists so different from the motoring population that they become the source of not only driving woes, but the state of the nation as a whole. I reckon we've had enough generations of mass motorists since the 50s and 60s to create a new brand of folklore about what cyclists 'are like' from people who have had no first hand contact with anyone who rides a bike. Thus cyclists are 'other' and consequently, suspect.

Says the letter:
Those who ride on pavements and ignore red traffic lights (I was cut up on my cycle by a cycle courier ignoring a red light on a busy London street some years ago) are not worthy to be called cyclists

I was cut up on my cycle by a car driver a few years ago, sending me to hospital for a few months. Let me count the number of times I've been cut up by cars, lorries, vans and buses since then ....

...

... Sorry, lost count. Really, if you're only cut up once every "some years" by a bike courier, you're very lucky.

"Real cyclists in my opinion obey the Highway Code"

By these criteria I can honestly say the number of "real motorists" I have seen so far this year can be counted on the fingers of one head.

Guy951 wrote:
By these criteria I can honestly say the number of "real motorists" I have seen so far this year can be counted on the fingers of one head.

Were your parents quite closely related?

Kirst wrote:Were your parents quite closely related?

'Tis a bit odd that they've both got the same surname

I'm going to type this really quietly but I agree with him about flashing front lights, I find that it can be difficult to judge the speed of an aproaching bike with a flashing front light

But does that uncertainty make you more or less likely to pull out in front of them?

The unspoken assumption that motorists will always do what's best for the cyclist if given extra information, is suspect IMO.

Scarily there are a large number of people who seem to download their opinions directly from the Daily Mail (without passing through their brains on the way in or out), so yes, I fear that the letter is genuine.

Was going to leave a comment on that with regards the lights (and how I find Hope, Exposure and Fenix more than compensate for the effect he's witnessed)... however the stupidly designed site lets you write out a whole comment and then when you submit it asks for registratrion to be allowed to. What the..?! Why didnt you just tell me that in the first place.

If the Nation wants to ban stuff, dont ban the lights, ban blimmin webforms like that peice of nonsense!!! I find that more irritating than letters like that (I know, I've written a few like that myself )

end rant.