The Media War on Cycling

[fritz katzenjammer]

And there we go!!! Just while I was typing

Just do one, ok?

I recently test drove a Volvo and found I immediately disliked cyclist as soon as I sat in it.

To save my soul I ran home and went for a long ride…

 

[Drago]

This is another arrogant pri#k one that does the rounds every year. Shame you don't see tractor drivers being considerate to other road users very often🤡👹

View attachment 732225
From a pissed off farmer:

A polite-ish notice to all cyclists on country roads during harvest.
Please understand I have zero issues with you using the roads to ride your bicycle, I’m all for exercising and if slipping in to a lycra suit and impaling your self on a dick shaped bike seat for hours keeps you satisfied then each to their own.
If I’m driving a car I always give plenty of ‘safe space’ when passing cyclists which is only fair, we know how sensitive you are to your requested road space, you have just as much right to the roads as anyone....

HOWEVER,
if I’m coming at you in a fecking great tractor with 20 tons behind me on a single track road, do me and yourself a favour and STOP for one second, either move as far over to your side of the road or just step on to the verge if there is one, so I can pass safely, do not just continue at full speed and then piss and moan as you go past because if it goes wrong you’ll end up being pressure washed off a tractor wheel.

Unfortunately for you we take all your space and we can’t help it, so unless you want to lend a hand either changing a tyre that’s blown out or shovelling up a spillage, then we’re not dropping our wheels into drainage grips so that you can continue your bicycle ride. Cars, horse riders and runners are capable of it, I seem to be missing something with cyclists, I presume either you don’t want to get your special bike dirty, you’re trying to beat your PB or more than likely you’re just a complete cock in general.
Regards your Road Safety Advocate for North Down 😂

When I was a bit low on my quota for the month I'd head out into the sticks and pull a few agricultural vehicles. Never did I find one that wasn't committing an offence of some sort. Not once.

Yet the noise they make about us...

 

[PedallingNowhereSlowly]

With respect my friend - and I do genuinely think your intentions are good - this is just the beginning of a very long steep victim-blaming slope.

Wooah there. That's a big leap to victim blaming and I'm not sure how you got there! And I don't think anything that portray's cycling as 'holier than thou' helps either. We're all human at the end of the day and that's the crux. Human beings are imperfect. They make mistakes. They sometimes persistently do daft things under the mistaken belief it's some how safer when it isn't. People on bikes are still human beings and so much of this content is 'othering' and de-humanising them. The whole point is to counter that balance so that drivers are not so often tempted to enforce their opinions with close passes and worse.

Next you will be blaming red-light jumpers for every child that has been mown down on the pavement, or my colleages who make jokes about "giving me a nudge" on the way home ...

I really do struggle with people who trivialise road dangers - we so seldom joke about endangering the users of aircraft, ships, trains or any other mode of transport I can think of so I'm not exactly sure why it's acceptable when it comes to road users?

Wasn't one of Clarkson's 'jokes' cited in a case where by a driver deliberately drove at/into a cycle trailer with children on board, some years back?

"Sometimes I think we bring some of this on ourselves" get in the sea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And this, I agree on.
We are not all accountable for the actions of other cyclists. Same goes for drivers - some are good and patient. Which, is another angle to explore in positive messaging.

 

[PedallingNowhereSlowly]

it was a light hearted comment / joke hence the
as was the play on words of bicyclist / bi-cyclist, I'm sorry you weren't able to appreciate that.

I'm not sure that bleating on social media about rubbish you see on other social media is really helping or a worthwhile pastime. Just ignore it and ride your bike. Its not something that is worthy of analysis.

I did wonder, sorry!
To my mind, I don't want to be the victim of a culture war. I don't actually feel like a victim, but if this insanity grows and we are barred from cycling on roads I will without doubt be agrieved. It's the one thing that would possibly make me move country.

I also feel a sense of great loss for those who completely overlook cycling as a viable transport option. They are missing out, and to do so on the basis of a culture war is awfully sad, imho.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Eff them tractor drivers; they don't pay road tax! 😅😅
(Agricultural vehicles are included in the long list of VED exempt vehicles, most of which entitled meat-heads in cars are unaware of. Apparently).

Or fuel duty. Or is red diesel a thing of the past?

 

[Dogtrousers]

The whole social meeja culture wars thing is bollocks isn't it. It's just so divorced from the real world. That's not to say it doesn't have real harmful effects, but it's still a load of bollocks.

Take that tractor driver thing. It's clearly a load of made up cobblers. Anyone who has ever driven any kind of vehicle down a country lane will know that while cyclists can be an irritant by going oh so slowly and taking aaaages, the real problem is oncoming traffic.

If I'm riding down a lane with few passing points with a vehicle up my arse I'll often pull in to a big driveway or what have you to let them pass unless I happen to have spied through the hedges a vehicle coming the other way. In that case I'll hold my position because I don't want to be stuck behind them for aaaages while they squeeze past each other.

 

[Emanresu]

Once pulled into the side to let a tractor passed. Unfortunately the lush green grass hid a ditch so went a*** over into the ditch with the bike in tow. Farmer did stop to see if I was OK and both had a laugh about it.

Beware of being courteous to other road users.

 

[T4tomo]

The whole social meeja culture wars thing is bollocks isn't it. It's just so divorced from the real world. That's not to say it doesn't have real harmful effects, but it's still a load of bollocks.

Take that tractor driver thing. It's clearly a load of made up cobblers. Anyone who has ever driven any kind of vehicle down a country lane will know that while cyclists can be an irritant by going oh so slowly and taking aaaages, the real problem is oncoming traffic.

If I'm riding down a lane with few passing points with a vehicle up my arse I'll often pull in to a big driveway or what have you to let them pass unless I happen to have spied through the hedges a vehicle coming the other way. In that case I'll hold my position because I don't want to be stuck behind them for aaaages while they squeeze past each other.

Agree. and it isnt ever ever going to lead to a ban on cycling on roads, that is a massively insane mental leap from the OP.

On the tractor thing, the text actually refers (well I'm pretty sure it does) to cyclists approaching an oncoming tractor, and then it makes a lot more sense. The quickest way for them to get past and you get on with cycling is to get off the road, and its what I try to do. Lord know why they then put up a picture of a tractor catching up with cyclist.

If I approach a car on a narrow lane, I will often ride a little more centrally (until the last moment) to encourage them to slow down or pull in rather than blast past at 30 mph with the wing mirror an inch from my elbow. Its much easier to judge squeezing past a stationary vehicle than a moving one.

 

[Dogtrousers]

The thing that some drivers do that I find terrible is to be polite and wait for me while I'm riding up a hill. I feel duty bound to put in a bit of extra effort and I can hear the kids in the car saying "daddy, that man's face is all red. Is he going to die?". Just squash me into the hedge please.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

I really cannot imagine any cyclist happily riding along with a feckin' great tractor behind!!!
They are hardly silent and they are HUGE - if one comes up behind me my main aim is to find somewhere safe to let them past ASAP!!

if it is a single track road then there are normally field entrances quite often and I just use them.

 

[matticus]

Wooah there. That's a big leap to victim blaming and I'm not sure how you got there!

OK, good, I hope you do avoid that slope. And then maybe we can still be friends ;-)

But do have a look how quickly the thread headed down that hill. Maybe not in your posts, but it started while I was writing mine. This isn't my first rodeo, these discussions almost always bring out "We should look at ourselves, is it any wonder that ... yada yada ... "

 

[newts]

I'd like the address of the place you got that from, have a word with them about the legalities of close following and no front number plate on the highway, amongst other things.

It was a Facebook post. I think most sensible cylclists would give way as soon a possible for their own safety. The "it's my road get out of my way" self important attitude that needs addressing by many road users. I recently followed a tractor @22mph for approximately 6 miles near Dorchester on the A35, passing many places where it would have been easy let the 40+ accumulated vehicles pass & ease congestion on a very busy road, but no, the driver was far too selfish🙄

 

[T4tomo]

I recently followed a tractor @22mph for approximately 6 miles near Dorchester on the A35, passing many places where it would have been easy let the 40+ accumulated vehicles pass & ease congestion on a very busy road, but no, the driver was far too selfish🙄

and how long would it take said tractor driver to then get pulled back onto said busy road? 20-30 minutes until a big enough gap emerged, when (s)he's actually working for living. How much longer did your journey take 8 or 9 mins, possibly less probably saved you getting stuck behind that bus or lorry?

 

[classic33]

and how long would it take said tractor driver to then get pulled back onto said busy road? 20-30 minutes until a big enough gap emerged, when (s)he's actually working for living. How much longer did your journey take 8 or 9 mins, possibly less probably saved you getting stuck behind that bus or lorry?

Aren't the bus and lorry drivers working for a living?

 

[matticus]

Aren't the bus and lorry drivers working for a living?

Yes.

(And all the car drivers I hold up are probably delivering donor transplant organs... )