# 'The problem with cyclists' article in Motorsport Magazine



## mickle (9 May 2014)

Now removed from their website but conveniently saved for our reading pleasure here:

http://webcache.googleusercontent.c...blem-with-cyclists/+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk


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## ColinJ (9 May 2014)

Well, I tried, but I'm afraid that I couldn't spot his braincell!


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## Dogtrousers (9 May 2014)

I sometimes wear black gloves. I wonder if we've met.


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## GrumpyGregry (9 May 2014)

mickle said:


> Now removed from their website but conveniently saved for our reading pleasure here:
> 
> http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:LuEEx8x6gx4J:www.motorsportmagazine.com/road-cars/opinions/the-problem-with-cyclists/ &cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk


They've taken it down? Really?


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## Beebo (9 May 2014)

He misses the point in spectacular fashion.
He doesnt for one minute consider that the cyclists may be having just as much fun as the driver, why is the cyclist seen as being a selfish fool?


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## uphillstruggler (9 May 2014)

I bet those responses werent exactly what he was expecting.

What a dick


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## Sara_H (9 May 2014)

Glad you posted this. I saw it not long after it had first been published, there were only a few comments then.

God to see the reaction to the article and that the publishers have obviously realised that it oversteps the mark and have withdrawn it. But still worrying to think there are lots of people out there who genuinely think like this write does.


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## Apollonius (9 May 2014)

Thanks for linking to this article. Just the usual sub-Clarkson (is this possible?) twaddle, but useful to know what is going on in the minds of the tiny minority of speedophile drivers. be aware!


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## fossyant (9 May 2014)

Driving and fun are not two words I can associate with, especially these days with traffic !


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## glenn forger (9 May 2014)

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Motor-Sport-Magazine/96482896515

They're getting a richly deserved kicking, that article encourages hostility and aggression on the roads, unforgiveable.


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## albion (9 May 2014)

Slow old age pensioners driving safely, learner drivers and horses all come under that very same enemy category.

One that says 'I own the road, get out of my way'.


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## glenn forger (9 May 2014)

There wasn't hardly any abuse in the original comments BTL, one chap called the author a knobber but nothing else, the responses were angry but calm and measured.


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## shouldbeinbed (9 May 2014)

I saw the original article, interesting to see they've swapped the pictures over to less perjoritive ones, the original illustration was an utterly out of context grab from a Volvo cycle/ped sensor advert.

Its either just been done as pure clickbait knowing that it'll get page visits for the stats from people prepared to put up a counter argument or if you're imbecillic enough to hold & publish this sort of view then you're probably just as dim as to not understand the nature of the internet and the fact that it won't just be seen by like minded individuals.


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## Cycling Dan (9 May 2014)

This artical is based ironically all on the lack of ability of the driver in that one senarieo. I applud the effort but all that screams to me is that this person in this fantasy was driving much faster than the conditions allowed. The writer of the artical even mentioned within the speed limits of the road as if that somehow made driving so fast you can stop in the distance you can see safely without having to push the brake pedal to the floor acceptable. 
I guess I must have missed the entire point of their article.


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## glasgowcyclist (9 May 2014)

mickle said:


> Now removed from their website but conveniently saved for our reading pleasure here:
> 
> http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:LuEEx8x6gx4J:www.motorsportmagazine.com/road-cars/opinions/the-problem-with-cyclists/ &cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk


 

Cheers for that, Mickle - I needed a good laugh!

GC


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## theclaud (9 May 2014)

"I have no problem at all with those who stay in single file and, *like the rest of us, use no more space than they need*"


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## ComedyPilot (9 May 2014)

WHY THE FOOK IS THAT FOOKING CRETIN CRESTING A HILL AT 50 FOOKING MPH IF HE CAN'T STOP HIS FOOKING CAR IF THE FOOKING ROAD ISN'T CLEAR??!!


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## StuartG (9 May 2014)

It would appear that this journalist's special motoring powers of being able to see round corners does not extend to seeing through humps. Poor man.
He is so right - the cyclists should have taken into account his disability. Next week _"will my mobility allowance pay for the new 7-series?"_


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## ComedyPilot (9 May 2014)

Laying into him on twitter: 

@*andrew_frankel* if you are broken down in a car and a lorry crests a hill and hits you from behind, are you responsible? #*rhetoricalquestion*


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## Hip Priest (9 May 2014)

I used to subscribe to Motor Sport (two words), but I rarely read Frankel's articles because they were normally about road cars, and he's very boring.


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## KneesUp (9 May 2014)

glenn forger said:


> https://www.facebook.com/pages/Motor-Sport-Magazine/96482896515
> 
> They're getting a richly deserved kicking, that article encourages hostility and aggression on the roads, unforgiveable.


Facebook page says

"Some of you are wondering why we have removed our article on cycling. It is no longer there because what began as a reasonable debate, with sensible arguments on both sides, had spiraled into a torrent of aggression and abuse which was no longer of any value"

Funny, I can only see a huge majority of comments saying the article is appalling. I must have missed the 'torrent of aggression' comments?


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## MattyKo (9 May 2014)

Whilst it is probably true to suggest most car drivers have rode a cycle.
It does not follow that they have any appreciation of riding a cycle on the roads. 
They may only have ridden a cycle as a child, under the protection and direction of parents. 
It is probably easier to suggest that many drivers should not have driven a car.


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## glenn forger (9 May 2014)

There were no ads on the page the article appeared on.


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## ufkacbln (9 May 2014)

Beebo said:


> He misses the point in spectacular fashion.
> He doesnt for one minute consider that the cyclists may be having just as much fun as the driver, why is the cyclist seen as being a selfish fool?




I thought he made a very valid point!



> Measures to deal specifically with the hazards presented by two such incompatible devices as bicycles and vehicles occupying the same stretches of road will surely come



Absolutely spot on.... there are muppets who drive like this:



> You crest a hill at, say, 50mph,



The sooner they are dealt with the better


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## mustang1 (9 May 2014)

I am a motoring fan but I kinda lost interest at the bit when author wrote cresting a hill at 50mph when I see two cyclists riding side by side at 5mph and driver does what he can to avoid an accident.

In a nutshell the driver is driving blind. Going over a hill and not being able to see over the hill is like ploughing into a corner not knowing what's around the bend or driving into the sun and not being able to see or turning into a main road without looking if any traffic is approaching.

The whole argument is based on that one fact: driving over a hill, can't see what's over the crest, and driving too fast for the blind hill.


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## glenn forger (9 May 2014)

Thing is, this isn't some herbert from Pistonheads, this bloke's a motoring journalist.




shouldbeinbed said:


> I saw the original article, interesting to see they've swapped the pictures over to less perjoritive ones.



Yeah, that was particularly shitty, it's from that Volvo cyclist/pedestrian warning advert, the young woman on a bike was swerving to avoid a hazard, they used that still and put the photo next to a text that said cyclists lack survival skills. So they took the shot out of context to show a cyclist SELFISHLY OBSTRUCTING THE ROAD (or, if you prefer, doing nothing wrong, riding safely and confidently).


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## Ern1e (9 May 2014)

MattyKo said:


> Whilst it is probably true to suggest most car drivers have rode a cycle.
> It does not follow that they have any appreciation of riding a cycle on the roads.
> They may only have ridden a cycle as a child, under the protection and direction of parents.
> It is probably easier to suggest that many drivers should not have driven a car.


 Thats a +1 from me on that plus IMO they should bring back the chap with the red flag !!


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## stowie (9 May 2014)

KneesUp said:


> Facebook page says
> 
> *"Some of you are wondering why we have removed our article on cycling. It is no longer there because what began as a reasonable debate, with sensible arguments on both sides, had spiraled into a torrent of aggression and abuse which was no longer of any value"*
> 
> Funny, I can only see a huge majority of comments saying the article is appalling. I must have missed the 'torrent of aggression' comments?



I think this translates to : I posted a piece about how those pesky cyclists get in the way when I want to pretend I am Ari Vatanen on local roads and that it must be their own fault if I crash into them and they, inconveniently, die. I expected everyone to comment saying "yeah pesky cyclists, get orf our roads", but instead I have wound up with hundreds of comments calling me a nobber. It's not fair and I am not playing anymore. So I am taking away the article and then no-one can comment on it any longer. So there. Sorry, what was that you just said about Google web-caching? Oh bugger...


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## Nigel-YZ1 (10 May 2014)

I watched one of those drivers out enjoying the freedom of the open road tonight... as he hurtled round a blind bend, driving with his right hand at 9 o'clock on the wheel, at 60mph, nearly taking out a horse. That must have spoilt his seamless gear change.


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