TwickenhamCyclist
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Cut and pasted from Bike Biz
Editor of upscale London listings magazine pens hate editorial. Prediction: "written in jest," editor will claim.
Richard Nye, editor of The Richmond Magazine, a glossy listings mag, has penned an editorial for the 118-page September issue that says "the only good cyclist is a dead one." The magazine - owned by lifestyle magazine publisher Sheengate - has been published for 30 years. 40,000 copies of the magazine are distributed in the upscale London suburbs of Richmond, Twickenham and Barnes.
Nye's editorial was about the surprise he felt being happy to watch cycle sport during the Olympics but he wrote of his "relief" at lapsing back into his "normal" cyclist-hating ways. He wrote: "...as a daily driver on busy roads, I tend towards the temperate view that the only good cyclist is a dead one."
The Richmond Magazine contains a half page display advert from Moore's Cycles, which has three stores in the publication's wealthy catchment area. Most of the other ads in the glossy title are for independent schools, loft conversion companies and other upscale products.
Moore's Cycles told BikeBiz: "We are fuming and have complained but no response. We had no idea of content when we placed the advert.
"We will not be advertising in this magazine whilst Richard Nye remains editor."
Nye's comment has been flagged on the forum of Road.cc and was first mentioned on Twitter by Freespeedlondon.
Earlier today an elderly cyclist was killed in Walton, a few miles from Richmond. The 79-year old was hit by a lorry, reports a local newspaper.
No doubt the editor of The Richmond Magazine will claim his editorial about "dead cyclists" was written as a "joke". As is usual in such lapses of editorial decency the article will be soon pulled from the online version of the magazine, but unedited versions will live on. There's this September PDF and the editorial on page 11 has been saved for posterity on a photosharing site.
Cameron McNeish, former editor of The Great Outdoors magazine, said:
"The editor [of The Richmond Magazine] should be sacked for that. A totally unacceptable comment that he should pay for with his job."
Tony Farrelly, editor of Road.cc, said:
"It's certainly a crass and insensitive comment, and Mr Nye must be spectacularly uninformed if he thought that it would pass unnoticed - unless of course he thought no such thing, in which case he obviously likes playing with fire.
"But is it a reflection of his actual views? Seems to me the piece is full of comedic exaggeration even if most of it is not very funny and is not meant to be taken seriously at all. Whatever, it's certainly dumb, especially given the numbers of cyclists in Richmond and the fact that a local bike shop advertises in his mag."
According to recent data from the Department for Transport, 21 percent of adults in Richmond cycle at least once a week, the highest rate of any London borough.
BikeBiz.com has contacted Nye for a comment but he has yet to answer (his PA said he's had a lot of phone calls and a deluge of emails).
UPDATE: Nye is promising to expand on this statement he made on Twitter:
"I am astonished at the reaction to my blog, which had nothing to do with cyclists being killed. I would never joke about such a thing. People have misunderstood my use of [the] phrase."
Editor of upscale London listings magazine pens hate editorial. Prediction: "written in jest," editor will claim.
Richard Nye, editor of The Richmond Magazine, a glossy listings mag, has penned an editorial for the 118-page September issue that says "the only good cyclist is a dead one." The magazine - owned by lifestyle magazine publisher Sheengate - has been published for 30 years. 40,000 copies of the magazine are distributed in the upscale London suburbs of Richmond, Twickenham and Barnes.
Nye's editorial was about the surprise he felt being happy to watch cycle sport during the Olympics but he wrote of his "relief" at lapsing back into his "normal" cyclist-hating ways. He wrote: "...as a daily driver on busy roads, I tend towards the temperate view that the only good cyclist is a dead one."
The Richmond Magazine contains a half page display advert from Moore's Cycles, which has three stores in the publication's wealthy catchment area. Most of the other ads in the glossy title are for independent schools, loft conversion companies and other upscale products.
Moore's Cycles told BikeBiz: "We are fuming and have complained but no response. We had no idea of content when we placed the advert.
"We will not be advertising in this magazine whilst Richard Nye remains editor."
Nye's comment has been flagged on the forum of Road.cc and was first mentioned on Twitter by Freespeedlondon.
Earlier today an elderly cyclist was killed in Walton, a few miles from Richmond. The 79-year old was hit by a lorry, reports a local newspaper.
No doubt the editor of The Richmond Magazine will claim his editorial about "dead cyclists" was written as a "joke". As is usual in such lapses of editorial decency the article will be soon pulled from the online version of the magazine, but unedited versions will live on. There's this September PDF and the editorial on page 11 has been saved for posterity on a photosharing site.
Cameron McNeish, former editor of The Great Outdoors magazine, said:
"The editor [of The Richmond Magazine] should be sacked for that. A totally unacceptable comment that he should pay for with his job."
Tony Farrelly, editor of Road.cc, said:
"It's certainly a crass and insensitive comment, and Mr Nye must be spectacularly uninformed if he thought that it would pass unnoticed - unless of course he thought no such thing, in which case he obviously likes playing with fire.
"But is it a reflection of his actual views? Seems to me the piece is full of comedic exaggeration even if most of it is not very funny and is not meant to be taken seriously at all. Whatever, it's certainly dumb, especially given the numbers of cyclists in Richmond and the fact that a local bike shop advertises in his mag."
According to recent data from the Department for Transport, 21 percent of adults in Richmond cycle at least once a week, the highest rate of any London borough.
BikeBiz.com has contacted Nye for a comment but he has yet to answer (his PA said he's had a lot of phone calls and a deluge of emails).
UPDATE: Nye is promising to expand on this statement he made on Twitter:
"I am astonished at the reaction to my blog, which had nothing to do with cyclists being killed. I would never joke about such a thing. People have misunderstood my use of [the] phrase."
