Bus executive has a go at cycle-commuting

The Chingford Skinhead

I think it is a shame the thread has been sidetracked by a albeit important discussion on how you define a "keen cyclist".

I think it is good news that the guy was prepared to get out and experience the streets on a bike. Perhaps not being used to city traffic is in our favour as he'll be less "so what" about it. If all he does is go back to his staff and tell them to give you more room then it is a bigger result than doing nothing. I thought the article was generally positive - though the comments section draws in the usual anti-bike ranters, which was and always is a bit depressing. Mind you, I particularly like reply #42 which inclued this gem of a reposte to a bike hater "Richard McL should perhaps spend an evening reading the Highway Code instead of working through The Sun with his mouth open".

OldSkoolKona

wantaway wrote:

I just dont get this thread (and others of its ilk). Why does this forum lurch between support for new cyclists to the sort of attitude above that actively discourages people to give it a go by proclaiming that those who commute by bike are special because commuting is somehow some mysterious special skill that anyone who has not been run over twice by a tank will just does not have.

I'm a new commuter (began in March) and it was precisely this sort of self grandiose nonsense about how specially special you had to be to ride on any road that had a car on it that put me off for so long. Fact is that the more people put forward this kind of codswallop the worse off we all shall be. And lord alone knows what sorf of effect it has on people letting their kids cycle to school (don't get me started on that). WIth confidence and common sense cycling is easy.

oh and as it seems to matter to some, I'll say I am not a keen cyclist. it is simply my transport method of choice. A choice based mainly on the fact it is such a fun way to get to work.

+ lots

Welcome to cycle commuting wantaway. Best kept secret in the world and brilliant fun! And not as dangerous as some of the threads on here would have you believe. Hope you're enjoying the better weather.

The more 'non cyclists' who get out on the roads and cycle to work or just at the weekend, the better for all of us, as the more drivers we have on the roads who appreciate (even a little) what cyclists (keen or otherwise :roll: ) face. Even better if they are in positions of influence like this guy.

Kieran_Burns

I was going to attempt to clarify my earlier comment as I did not appear to get my point across properly, but it appears that the consensus is roughly in the same area anyway.

I think the article was a good one to read (and the discussion relevant as well, despite it veering off on a slight tangent) in that it demonstrates that there are different skills sets required when riding in different conditions (which was my original point)

I did not say that it was HARD to cycle commute, just very different to country road cycling and therefore something of culture shock when encountered for the first time.

always_tyred

wantaway wrote:

Just because a lot of people happen to do something wrong, does not actually make a task intrinsically difficult.

I still would say to anyone considering commuting to work by bike that it is easier than they think, rather than it is more difficult than they imagine.

I see what you are getting at, but I'm honestly torn. I'd say that cycle commuting is about as hard as driving and riding a motorcycle. If you think driving is easy, then so too is cycle commuting.

Personally, I think the activity requires a healthy respect for its complexities and hazards. i'd love to see more people out cycling to work, but not if they are bimbling, blisfully waywards idiots who think its as easy as pointing the bicycle towards work and turning the pedals.

As I say, I find controling a car easy, trivial in fact. Am I a good driver?

The "I'm a cyclist and..." perception of lots of non-cyclists is a particular bug bear. I've been cut up, abortively overtaken and then undertaken on a roundabout by a thick necked taxi driver who turned out to be a cyclist too and. I've been honked at, abortively overtaken and abused while I picked my way down a steep single laned hill devoid of tarmac, save for the fragments at the bottom of the potholes, by a driver who turned out to be a cyclist too and. I've been clipped by someone racing to get home to watch telly 200 yards away,who turned out to be a cyclist too and. This misconception leads to agressive self justification, in my experience. It really bloody annoys me.

It also really bloody annoys me that the standard of bus driving towards cycling by this particular company appears to me at least to be worse than elsewhere I've lived. I have irony overload.