General ignorance.

[bingybongy]

http://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/CAROLYN-BOINTON-Ro...

I know local rags print/publish all sorts of crap to sell papers or act as clickbait.
But by heck this is bad.
Thankfully a lot of the comments are sensible (not all though).

[Dammit]

"Now, to be fair, I do have plenty of friends who are keen bikers" you will find this in almost every article of this kind - simply because the author can no longer get away with writing articles that start off with "Now, to be fair, I do have plenty of black friends, but [racist ranting that would make Nigel Farage blush].

She's a troll, who contradicts herself repeatedly in her own article, but it'll raise blood pressure levels and generate clicks, which is what she's paid for.

[2volvos]

It's just very depressing that not only does this hateful tripe get vomited up in the usual suspects nationally, but in the local and regional press too - where I think it does more damage as it refers to locations and roads folk are familiar with and can say 'oh yes, that happened to me too'.

But it's just so damned soul destroying that the default position of these writers always appears to be riddled with misinformed cliche, rehashing (but reinforcing) the accepted norm in Local Rag Land that cyclists are all non-tax paying, red light jumping, lycra-clad menaces to 'normal' people out doing 'normal' things. This then cues up a robust defence by cyclists, which then prompts more knee-jerking that cyclists are now self-rightous, holier-than-thou and arrogant.

And set to repeat ad infinitum...

[anonymous-user]

Why is it impossible for "journalists" to write about cyclists without using the term "lyrcra clad". Everytime I see that phrase they lose the argument.

[47p2]

Below are only a few snippets picked out from her article, to be honest my 3 year old granddaughter could have written that and done a better job

CAROLYN BOINTON said:

But, let's be honest, who hasn't felt slightly intimidated when driving along a narrow country lane and coming across a pack of Lycra-clad bikers

Well I for one have never felt slightly intimidated, but maybe that's because I'm not a biker

bingybongy said:

And as much as I hate to bash anyone for enjoying their hobby

Well why write the article then, a touch of the J.C.s possibly?

bingybongy said:

I've even been known to jump on the saddle myself for a ride round Carsington Water

Not a sight that Carsington Water folk should have to be subjected to if your google images are anything to go by

bingybongy said:

When I did manage to get past them, I was rewarded with a rather unpleasant two-finger gesture from the leader but I'm still not sure why!

Possiby because you were hassling them when you were trying to pass, incompetence behind the wheel is far more dangerous than passing a few cyclsts on a country road. Or maybe it's because you're so far up yourself and full of crap and the cyclists (or were they bikers) knew you were a duff journalist that would print a load of rubbish.

[bingybongy]

Hey, I didn't say all that.

☺

[m444ttb]

I'm really new to cycling (10 weeks as a road 'hobby' cyclist) but am already irritated by articles like this. I agree that large groups out on the road should try and leave some gaps for cars etc to hop into but otherwise what do they expect? On a local facebook page I used to see the same people complaining about cyclist for going too fast on the cycle path or not using the cycle path and getting in the way on their car AND complaining when people in other cars want to go faster than them. In essence they just want a clear road or everyone travelling the same velocity.

Off-road in parks etc nobody wants to hit a child or someone's dog but it often looks like six of one and half a dozen of the other to me. I don't have much experience of cycling in parks but as a runner find a lot of dog owners are very quick to apologise but very slow to wind in the trip wire extension lead or stop the dog running round on its own. As far as I'm concerned children can be much the same. If your 8 year old runs round with the same awareness as a Spaniel then keep an eye out for them. Of course Id still slow down if I were on a bike, not least for my own sake. My first go at cycling ended aged 15 when a cat went through my front wheel (having dived from between parked cars) and I'd not fancy a repeat.

[WarrenG]

m444ttb said:

My first go at cycling ended aged 15 when a cat went through my front wheel (having dived from between parked cars) and I'd not fancy a repeat.

My morbid curiosity here - did it kill the cat / chop it in half / did you go over the handlebars?

and is this why we should all have bladed aero spokes?

[Fugazi]

I read about something similar a couple of weeks ago when a squirrel went through the spokes and it's demise resulted in some serious injuries to the rider. I don't think the squirrel made it

squirrel carnage

[m444ttb]

WarrenG said:

My morbid curiosity here - did it kill the cat / chop it in half / did you go over the handlebars?

and is this why we should all have bladed aero spokes?

I'm not sure the exact state it was in immediately after (I only have a very vague image of a cat being on the floor after I regained consciousness having gone over the bars and stopped on my head) but it was in one piece. It spent several days at the vet before being put down I think.

The worst bit is the owners daughter was in my year at school and typical friends with all the older 'hard' kids. Her Dad was apparently not to be messed with either. The doctor told my Mum I was ok to go back to school despite my concussion the next day but I ended up walking out having been told I'd never make it home alive! A day or so later the allegedly scary owner came round to my house and wanted my parents to pay for the vets bill. After some discussion with my Dad about why I hadn't come round to enquire about their cat and say sorry, to which my Dad questioned why they hadn't asked about the head injury their cat had caused me, my Dad wrote him a post-dated cheque for two weeks hence. This was done on the proviso that if I had any threats or hassle from anyone it was getting cancelled. Nothing was ever said again although I was called 'cat killer' by some pisstakers for the rest of the year!

The bike just had a buckled wheel andy helmet an inch long split above the left temple. I didn't ride again though.

[m444ttb]

Double post

[With these feet]

Fugazi said:

I read about something similar a couple of weeks ago when a squirrel went through the spokes and it's demise resulted in some serious injuries to the rider. I don't think the squirrel made it

squirrel carnage

Friend of mine wrote a motorcycle off that he had just purchased when a rabbit ran through the front wheel as he approached a roundabout. Hadnt even had time to change his insurance over....

[julianm]

I prefer steel forks for squirrel encounters.