Clare Balding ....

northernneil

how much actual riding did you think she did on this britain by bike thing ? baring in mind you can see the range rovers boot shadow when she is being filmed 'cycling'

I reckon a few hundred yards to get the shot, max

Splottboy

...is a Fat, Posh, Horsey bird, apparently.
WTF she's doing on a bike, no one knows.

Now, My Rant!

Kelly friggin Holmes...
She's on the box more than the News!

EVERY bloody time I turn the telly on she's being presented with an award or,
presenting an award, or, giving her opinion, or is in the background either,
running, jumping, throwing etc, etc, bloody etc...

I'll be so glad when the 2012 event is over, so they can finish with her once-and-for-all.

These bleedin "Celebrities" do my ead in!

northernneil

to be fair at least she has an olympic link ... what the feck CB has to do with cycling ?????

Aggieboy

Regardless of what you think about her bike programme, I think she is a very good, knowledgeable presenter, whatever sport she is covering.

Mike67

She also quite obviously finds Willie Carson annoying...which is +1 in my book.

Still not sure how she got the cycling job though...just thinking of the conversation:

'You know about horses, they've got saddles, so have bikes, how about riding one on TV?'

spen666

northernneil wrote:

to be fair at least she has an olympic link ... what the feck CB has to do with cycling ?????

What has Clare Balding got to do with cycling?

She rides a bike - end of debate.

Your eltitist patronising attitude only seeks to make cycling seem more inaccessible and unwelcoming to newcomers. We should be welcoming the fact there are programmes about cycling.

She has done more to promote cycling to the nation than you have.

jswba

spen666 wrote:

She has done more to promote cycling to the nation than you have.

Sadly, I hardly think an ill-thought out, half-a££ed retread of that Wainwright Walks programme (but on a bike) on BB4 featuring a load of old codgers talking about their village water pump (oh, and Barry Hoban talking about his mates) really counts as doing much to promote cycling.

Weejie54

Sadly, I hardly think an ill-thought out, half-a££ed retread of that Wainwright Walks programme (but on a bike) on BB4 featuring a load of old codgers talking about their village water pump (oh, and Barry Hoban talking about his mates) really counts as doing much to promote cycling.

Probably enough to help sell this book:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Britain-Bike-J- ... 1906388717

Which, in turn, will promote cycling more than spouting prejudice.

giant_man

This man-woman or whatever she is an idiot, who know sweet fa about cycling. Scuppered chances of a decent presenter to do that show. Bloody Beeb ......

shouldbeinbed

Ok so maybe she's not Contador but she's making a nice little program that 99% of the people won't notice the flaws in nor be so snotty about her cycling history.

I'm sure Julia B's Wainwright walks got people out onto the hills, maybe CB might get one or two insomniacs out onto their bikes and so what if its people talking about the village water pump, far more interesting for non cyclists (and a lot of cyclists) than a 30 minute polemic on why campagnolo is better than shimano or vice verca.

Rob Penn's program charging round bland generic factories across the globe getting moist about random components seems to have received a bit of a bashing on here too and thats the alternative to CB's gentle travelogue of the byways of Britain.


What is your idea of the perfect cycling prgram to get people interested and enjoying biking without boring the tits off them one way or another?

Weejie54

This man-woman or whatever she is an idiot, who know sweet fa about cycling. Scuppered chances of a decent presenter to do that show. Bloody Beeb ......

She does have a Cambridge degree in English. I'm not sure how she would react to the flawless English prose above .....

Bunneh

When she 'admitted' to being a lesbian I don't think anyone was surprised. I like her actually, she's a good presenter but probably wasn't the best choice for the show. I watched the first programme and found myself noticing that I needed to vacuum under the sofa; never a good sign.

rick_chasey

She's quality.

Aggieboy

giant mancp wrote:

This man-woman or whatever she is an idiot, who know sweet fa about cycling. Scuppered chances of a decent presenter to do that show. Bloody Beeb ......

Whether you like her or not is another issue. She certainly isn't an idiot. I've seen her present numerous sports eg rugy, racing, athletics, and she is extremely good at her job. I rather have her present any day, than some token 'looker'.

mroli

Sexuality and looks nothing to do with it. She is a good confident TV presenter who has branched out from horse racing precisely for that reason. Good to have a mainstream presenter presenting a programme about bikes and have watched a couple of programmes from the evening and they were all good.

Pross

Aggieboy wrote:

Regardless of what you think about her bike programme, I think she is a very good, knowledgeable presenter, whatever sport she is covering.

+1 to this. She is by far the most knowledgable female TV sports presenter the BBC have (and probably better than the vast majority of the men - especially Inverdale). Would people be taking a different approach if she was one of Beebs more attractive but frankly stupid 'sport' presenters?

At the end of the day it's a programme about leisure cycling so doesn't really need Victoria Pendleton presenting it. You could say what does Michael Palin know about world travel or Titmarsch about walking but they are good presenters. Balding is a good choice because she isn't an obvious cyclist, probably overweight and just recovering from cancer, so shows the public that they could also do it. Some people's attitude still manages to surprise me :roll:

Ginjafro

Mmmmm.....she may not be my cup of tea but then think about it this way - here is a programme for the Daily Mail/Express/Telegraph cyclist hater presented by a posh bird they all love and look up to, maybe it will stop some of their moans about cycling. Well, okay maybe not but it could have been worse. Just imagine a bike programme presented by James Martin or Jeremy Clarkson.......

timb64

Do you think she shaves her legs?

northernneil

spen666 wrote:

northernneil wrote:

to be fair at least she has an olympic link ... what the feck CB has to do with cycling ?????

What has Clare Balding got to do with cycling?

She rides a bike - end of debate.

Your eltitist patronising attitude only seeks to make cycling seem more inaccessible and unwelcoming to newcomers. We should be welcoming the fact there are programmes about cycling.

She has done more to promote cycling to the nation than you have.

Phi Ligget
Jill Douglas
Ned Boulting
Gary Imlach

just to quickly name 4 presenters who have a link and a knowledge of cycling which would have been more suitable, nothing to do with an elitist (check your spelling) patronising attitude more a raised eyebrow at the choice of presenter, cos lets face it when it comes to elitism CB mixes with the best of them.

PBo

northernneil wrote:

Phi Ligget
Jill Douglas
Ned Boulting
Gary Imlach

just to quickly name 4 presenters who have a link and a knowledge of cycling which would have been more suitable, nothing to do with an elitist (check your spelling) patronising attitude more a raised eyebrow at the choice of presenter, cos lets face it when it comes to elitism CB mixes with the best of them.

Yeah, but Imlach had no cycling knowledge/link when he started on Channel 4 Tdf - they got him because he was a good presenter, and they liked the style of the American Footy....

jswba

A better programme wouldtry to interview at least one person who's under pensionable age, perhaps to show that cycling isn't all for OAPs reminiscing about their CTC groups in the 1930s?

I've got no problem with Clare Balding as a presenter, and no opinion on her love for /knoweldge of/ignorance of cycling; it's just that the programme is so boring and so transparently an attempt to ape Wainwright Walks.

Cleat Eastwood

Mike67 wrote:

She also quite obviously finds Willie Carson annoying...which is +1 in my book.

'

The venerable miss Balding doesn't like Willie......you don't say?

ballspondroad

She presents a programme called 'Ramblings' on Radio 4, where she joins people for walks hither and thither, and suppose that this is why she got this gig. Damnably dull stuff though.

SteppenHerring

Personally I think it's good that they have someone who isn't a racing snake in lycra, spouting on about carbon vs Ti and the like. The programme isn't for the likes of us, it's for the general public and if they see that a "normal" person of a normal build can get on a bike and go and see the countryside, then that's great.

I wish she'd stop using the suicide brake levers though.

mroli

PBo wrote:

Yeah, but Imlach had no cycling knowledge/link when he started on Channel 4 Tdf - they got him because he was a good presenter, and they liked the style of the American Footy....

Same with Ned - he was football and freely admits that he was a fish out of water when he started. Jill Douglas was rugby.

This programme doesn't exactly need a cycle expert either.

Pross

There is some inverse snobbery on this site. So she's a bit posh why should that matter anymore than if she is working class or any other label you care to put on someone and the fact that she's a lesbian surely makes no difference to her presenting ability either. If it were a programme about the history of bike racing or something then maybe a cycling 'expert' would be of benefit but she is ideal for this subject matter for the very reason she isn't an obvious cyclist. Anyway, how many of you critics know for a fact she isn't a regular leisure cyclist in any case?

mcj78

I thought she was more into extreme marathon running than cycling myself...

shouldbeinbed

SteppenHerring wrote:

I wish she'd stop using the suicide brake levers though.

they do send a bit of a shiver up the spine don't they - memories of a few tourers from 20odd years ago.- I suppose the rationale is she's supposed to be riding the same bike as Briercliffe did so they're of the period.

she mentions BBB briefly on her own site and invites feedback

http://www.clarebalding.co.uk/

hammerite

I've not seen the programme, but sounds like it would've been perfect for Nicholas Crane.

freehub

SteppenHerring wrote:

Personally I think it's good that they have someone who isn't a racing snake in lycra, spouting on about carbon vs Ti and the like. The programme isn't for the likes of us, it's for the general public and if they see that a "normal" person of a normal build can get on a bike and go and see the countryside, then that's great.

I wish she'd stop using the suicide brake levers though.

If some random person thinks " hey if she can do Britain by bike, then I can" they'll end up getting 20 miles down the road, turning round, looking for the nearest train or bus station.

spen666

northernneil wrote:

spen666 wrote:

northernneil wrote:

to be fair at least she has an olympic link ... what the feck CB has to do with cycling ?????

What has Clare Balding got to do with cycling?

She rides a bike - end of debate.

Your eltitist patronising attitude only seeks to make cycling seem more inaccessible and unwelcoming to newcomers. We should be welcoming the fact there are programmes about cycling.

She has done more to promote cycling to the nation than you have.

Phi Ligget
Jill Douglas
Ned Boulting
Gary Imlach

just to quickly name 4 presenters who have a link and a knowledge of cycling which would have been more suitable, nothing to do with an elitist (check your spelling) patronising attitude more a raised eyebrow at the choice of presenter, cos lets face it when it comes to elitism CB mixes with the best of them.

The programme is not aimed at your narrow elitist mind.

It is a programme of general interest and far better to have someone who the public at large know and respect as a presenter fronting it than some unknown outside of cycling bod.

You are being elitist