That's it, I am no longer defending Cyclists!
Discussion
nickfrog said:
Good at being a travelling Victor Meldrew who can't find its way in or out of a M'Way service station and rants about it on the internet, attracting unanimous ridicule ?
No, being intelligent enough to be witty, cutting and truthful in the same post. You lurch from cheap insults to desperate attempts to second guess people and end up making a show of yourself. It would be embarrassing if you weren’t such an unlikeable personality. cb1965 said:
nickfrog said:
Good at being a travelling Victor Meldrew who can't find its way in or out of a M'Way service station and rants about it on the internet, attracting unanimous ridicule ?
No, being intelligent enough to be witty, cutting and truthful in the same post. You lurch from cheap insults to desperate attempts to second guess people and end up making a show of yourself. It would be embarrassing if you weren’t such an unlikeable personality. funkyrobot said:
Cycling is not just a hobby for the rich. It's like anything, you can spend a lot of money if you choose to.
I'm not rich and I ride regularly.
With the average U.K. salary being 28k, the majority of Britons earn below this level with a very sharp cut off occurring at around the £50k mark.
My view is that part of the anger towards a particular group of road users is based around the economics and the fact that this small group of higher earners are more vulnerable given that they are not hiding away in private clubs for their hobby nor cacooned in cars etc. It’s that very British trait of social divides being played out in many instances.
cb1965 said:
No, being intelligent enough to be witty, cutting and truthful in the same post. You lurch from cheap insults to desperate attempts to second guess people and end up making a show of yourself. It would be embarrassing if you weren’t such an unlikeable personality.
Have you read your contributions? 
saaby93 said:
Mave said:
yonex said:
Have you read your contributions?
I think "contributions" is rather a generous term!Edited by Mave on Saturday 21st July 14:05
cb1965 said:
nickfrog said:
Good at being a travelling Victor Meldrew who can't find its way in or out of a M'Way service station and rants about it on the internet, attracting unanimous ridicule ?
No, being intelligent enough to be witty, cutting and truthful in the same post. You lurch from cheap insults to desperate attempts to second guess people and end up making a show of yourself. It would be embarrassing if you weren’t such an unlikeable personality. funkyrobot said:
swerni said:
yonex said:
Triumph 765RS
Atom 3.5 SC
TVR Griff 500
Audi s
tbox
Yours, a ‘cyclist’
Ooo can I play Atom 3.5 SC
TVR Griff 500
Audi s
tboxYours, a ‘cyclist’
Africa Twin
Ducati Diavel
Infiniti FX 50 5.0 V8
chimaera
595 Arbath
Cleay i'm another tree hugging militant cyclist
Cube Attain GTC Pro Disc
Raleigh Mustang Sport
Bianchi ML3 Alu
Raleigh Misceo 1.0
Looking for a shed
.........
Ah, s
t. 
Audi A8 4.2 TDi
900 Honda Hornet.
Yet another one of those 'cyclists'...
nickfrog said:
Yes, and you're such likeable personality. You may be familiar with this thread https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&... Why is it that you attract such a strong consensus against you?
‘Horrible little island’ lolIt’s actually beautiful at Silverstone today.
yonex said:
nickfrog said:
Yes, and you're such likeable personality. You may be familiar with this thread https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&... Why is it that you attract such a strong consensus against you?
‘Horrible little island’ lolIt’s actually beautiful at Silverstone today.
nickfrog said:
yonex said:
nickfrog said:
Yes, and you're such likeable personality. You may be familiar with this thread https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&... Why is it that you attract such a strong consensus against you?
‘Horrible little island’ lolIt’s actually beautiful at Silverstone today.
It's HBGB thats more of a worry
Mave 
saaby93 said:
nickfrog said:
yonex said:
nickfrog said:
Yes, and you're such likeable personality. You may be familiar with this thread https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&... Why is it that you attract such a strong consensus against you?
‘Horrible little island’ lolIt’s actually beautiful at Silverstone today.
It's HBGB thats more of a worry
Mave If you've got something to say then why don't you say it, rather than throwing little antagonistic digs around then backing off hoping no-one notices?
Edited by Mave on Saturday 21st July 20:56
swerni said:
I'd disagree on the "affluent elite " part.
Since the introduction for the cycle to work schemes there has been a huge increase in the number of cyclists.
Spending £500 on a bike is nothing compared to spending £8 a day on smoking.
But you're right on the "very British" but i'm not sure it's based on social divides, it seems to cross them.
Maybe we're just a repressed nation who finds the need to takes its anger out on people who just don't like what we like?
£8 is lower than £500. The fact that it’s £8/day doesn’t register within some demographics. Don’t forget that you also need the real estate capacity to store it, a vehicle (an additional one as the wife needs one to take the children to basket weaving classes) to transport it out to my house where you will all gather at the end of my drive way, all the associated kit (the right kit is essential to club rules) and finally, the spare time to get away as very many people have full time weekend jobs waddling around shopping arcades waving a Vanquis card around. Since the introduction for the cycle to work schemes there has been a huge increase in the number of cyclists.
Spending £500 on a bike is nothing compared to spending £8 a day on smoking.
But you're right on the "very British" but i'm not sure it's based on social divides, it seems to cross them.
Maybe we're just a repressed nation who finds the need to takes its anger out on people who just don't like what we like?
I think it is very much a manifestation of modern social divides. Traditional class divides are long gone but we’re a nation riddled with social and wealth divides. Repression is definitely a part of it. Just like the chap who hates his wife so goes down to Wetherspoons to punch someone in the face, I reckon an awful lot of angry people in cars see the manifestation of their boss or the people they perceive to be holding them down sitting exposed and vulnerable in anpush bike. At the same time, sitting on a few of those saddles are some angry people looking to take their problems out on third parties.
In London it’s very common to see a tool in a car deliberately buzz a cyclist. Who knows what kind of issues they have that trigger that kind of offensive lunacy but it’s a form of hatred. Likewise, every weekend morning in Regents Park there are cyclists who deliberately seek out mothers putting children in cars and you can see them alter their course to intentially create a confrontation with the woman. And other cyclists around the City who know the badly laid out cycle junctions, know that pedestrians aren’t naturally expecting a bike to appear from a certain angle but every morning you see them speed up to deliberately create a confrontation. Lord knows just how ill these individuals are.
DonkeyApple said:
It’s all relative in reality. I suspect that in the eyes of the masses you are in the wealthier demographic. Few of us probably consider ourselves to be rich but from the perspective of the majority we are deemed to be.
With the average U.K. salary being 28k, the majority of Britons earn below this level with a very sharp cut off occurring at around the £50k mark.
My view is that part of the anger towards a particular group of road users is based around the economics and the fact that this small group of higher earners are more vulnerable given that they are not hiding away in private clubs for their hobby nor cacooned in cars etc. It’s that very British trait of social divides being played out in many instances.
It is utter nonsense that owning a bicycle puts you in a wealthier demographic to all but the most repressed in India and the like! In the UK, bicycle ownership is not relatively expensive. Have you been to The Netherlands, Scandinavian countries, France, Belgium etc? Bicycles are more prevalent than cars in many areas. It is a truly pathetic mindset in the UK that tries to alienate cyclists as being elite or less 'equal' in terms of road use rights. With the average U.K. salary being 28k, the majority of Britons earn below this level with a very sharp cut off occurring at around the £50k mark.
My view is that part of the anger towards a particular group of road users is based around the economics and the fact that this small group of higher earners are more vulnerable given that they are not hiding away in private clubs for their hobby nor cacooned in cars etc. It’s that very British trait of social divides being played out in many instances.
I have a couple of very nice bikes here in Portugal (Bianchi road, Scott 29'er mtb) but I keep one of these for getting around Amsterdam when I'm there and it's great:
https://www.santafixie.com/en/6ku-evian-2.html
You can get a decent bike for less than 300 euros if you shop around - delivered to your door anywhere in Europe. In the USA, these are $199!
DonkeyApple said:
I think it is very much a manifestation of modern social divides. Traditional class divides are long gone but we’re a nation riddled with social and wealth divides. Repression is definitely a part of it. Just like the chap who hates his wife so goes down to Wetherspoons to punch someone in the face, I reckon an awful lot of angry people in cars see the manifestation of their boss or the people they perceive to be holding them down sitting exposed and vulnerable in anpush bike. At the same time, sitting on a few of those saddles are some angry people looking to take their problems out on third parties.
My take on it is that some people (on a Johnny-amateur-psychologist level), due in part to whatever else is going on their lives, seek freedom from control by other people, while some people seek to exercise control over other people. Stick these fundamentally different types of people in a city, where no one has as much personal space as they'd like and the result is road rage. Being one of the former type of people I find cyclists very irritating down in Dorset on the occasions when I feel like they are being deliberately obstructive. Then I get past them and remember that I live in a nice house in a lovely part of the world. If I lived in a s
tty flat in London I expect I'd be wound tighter than a Swiss watch! 
Johnnytheboy said:
My take on it is that some people (on a Johnny-amateur-psychologist level), due in part to whatever else is going on their lives, seek freedom from control by other people, while some people seek to exercise control over other people. Stick these fundamentally different types of people in a city, where no one has as much personal space as they'd like and the result is road rage.
Being one of the former type of people I find cyclists very irritating down in Dorset on the occasions when I feel like they are being deliberately obstructive. Then I get past them and remember that I live in a nice house in a lovely part of the world. If I lived in a stty flat in London I expect I'd be wound tighter than a Swiss watch!
Are they being 'deliberately obstructive' to offend you somehow or are they just exercising their equal right to enjoy using the road? Reading these threads that are predominately anti-cyclist one gets the distinct impression that non-cyclists cannot accept that motorists do not 'own' the road or have greater rights to it. Being one of the former type of people I find cyclists very irritating down in Dorset on the occasions when I feel like they are being deliberately obstructive. Then I get past them and remember that I live in a nice house in a lovely part of the world. If I lived in a s
tty flat in London I expect I'd be wound tighter than a Swiss watch! For example: cyclists can legally ride two-abreast and not have to hug the kerb. They are not being obstructive, they are exercising their equal right to use the road. Just because you might be able to, or want to travel faster does not mean you get priority. It is no different to the hordes of caravans slowing cars down in the Summer - you cannot expect the caravan owners to pull off from the road just to let you speed past. You have to pass when it is safe to do so without affecting the journey made by the cyclists or caravanners.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff