James May on Cycling
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Lets discuss what Mr May has to say...please read 1st..
James May on: bicycles
What I am about to say is not going to be popular with at least one of my Top Gear colleagues, but here goes anyway. I'd like to stick up for the bicycle.
The bicycle was without doubt one of the greatest inventions ever. Without the bicycle, and the desire for liberty it generated, we would probably not have the car. Many of our great carmakers began by making bicycles - Peugeot as well - and most of us learn the basics of the Highway Code riding a bicycle.
Many things in life are supposedly ‘like riding a bike', in that we'll never forget how to do them. But actually, it's very easy to forget how to play musical instruments, do quadratic equations, strip and reassemble a rifle while blindfolded and make pastry. Only the ability to ride a bicycle remains with us after decades of inattention, and that's because riding one taps into some innate understanding of basic physics. A bicycle really is an extension of both your body and your psyche.
Who doesn't have, or have access to, a bicycle? It's like having some shoes or a tin opener. In places such as Copenhagen, where cycling is pretty much the opium of the people, bikes are like community chattels. You can't really own a bicycle any more than you can actually own an umbrella or a cat.
I'm perfectly familiar with all the regular objections to bicycles and the cult of cycling, but they're all just cant, really. Cycling has long been hijacked for political ends, but so what? It can be ignored, like the BNP. I get annoyed with people who bought a bicycle three weeks ago and now present it to me as if they've discovered the cure for all society's ills. I know what they're good for, and what they're not good for. Among the latter is carrying a new refrigerator. Unless you're Chinese.
Cyclists jump red lights and ride across the pavement, but so what? Cyclists are pedestrians really, since they are leg-powered. They've just added a few levers and cogs to improve their own efficiency.
Bicycles should never be regulated, they should never be subject to road tax, they should not require third-party insurance and competence to ride a bicycle should not be tested. It tests itself, because if you can't do it, you have a crash. Bicycles are the first rung on the personal-transport ladder and should be free at the point of use. I'll champion the bicycle until I'm worn through to the canvas.
But I do have a complaint. Cyclists have become miserabilists.
Several times a week, I go for a bike ride alongside the river near where I live. It's good for me. Or at least it is until I meet another cyclist coming the other way. "Morning," I chirp, cheerfully, because I am cheerful, filling my lungs with the airy elixir and freeing up my tired old bones. Nothing.
I was keeping score for a while, but I've long since lost count. It stood at something like - May, 8,000; other cyclists, nil. I supposed I might just be coming across as a weirdo. So I then tried smiling instead. Still nothing.
People walking their dogs respond. So do people roller-skating, staggering home after a really late one, picking through bins, collecting rubbish, delivering parcels and trimming their bushes. Sometimes the dogs themselves reciprocate with a simple bark. Only cyclists reject these basic conventions of greeting that reaffirm our membership of a universal fraternity, which is being human. Just a nod of the head will do. Nothing.
Maybe these cycling crusaders don't take me seriously, since I ride in my clothes rather than in a Lycra gimp suit with TV packaging crash helmet and a stupid flashing light attached to my face. Just because I'm not dressed up as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Bellend doesn't mean I'm not a proper cyclist. I haven't been without one since the age of three. I had to be prised from one of them by a kindly old dear at the top of a Scottish mountain, as my fingers had frozen to the handlebars. Don't come over all superior with me, you saddle-faced gits.
This is what has gone wrong with the supposed bicycle revolution. In all honesty, I think there should be something in it. We could use bikes more, we could feel healthier, we could reduce some journey times and leave the roads more free for the ambulances we will eventually need to call. A bit of cycling could, possibly, improve the fiscal and physical well-being of UK plc.
But it won't happen until the people who presume to represent this ancient and excellent activity learn to do it with a bit of a smile and a wave. Either cheer up, or fall off.
Lets discuss what Mr May has to say...please read 1st..
James May on: bicycles
What I am about to say is not going to be popular with at least one of my Top Gear colleagues, but here goes anyway. I'd like to stick up for the bicycle.
The bicycle was without doubt one of the greatest inventions ever. Without the bicycle, and the desire for liberty it generated, we would probably not have the car. Many of our great carmakers began by making bicycles - Peugeot as well - and most of us learn the basics of the Highway Code riding a bicycle.
Many things in life are supposedly ‘like riding a bike', in that we'll never forget how to do them. But actually, it's very easy to forget how to play musical instruments, do quadratic equations, strip and reassemble a rifle while blindfolded and make pastry. Only the ability to ride a bicycle remains with us after decades of inattention, and that's because riding one taps into some innate understanding of basic physics. A bicycle really is an extension of both your body and your psyche.
Who doesn't have, or have access to, a bicycle? It's like having some shoes or a tin opener. In places such as Copenhagen, where cycling is pretty much the opium of the people, bikes are like community chattels. You can't really own a bicycle any more than you can actually own an umbrella or a cat.
I'm perfectly familiar with all the regular objections to bicycles and the cult of cycling, but they're all just cant, really. Cycling has long been hijacked for political ends, but so what? It can be ignored, like the BNP. I get annoyed with people who bought a bicycle three weeks ago and now present it to me as if they've discovered the cure for all society's ills. I know what they're good for, and what they're not good for. Among the latter is carrying a new refrigerator. Unless you're Chinese.
Cyclists jump red lights and ride across the pavement, but so what? Cyclists are pedestrians really, since they are leg-powered. They've just added a few levers and cogs to improve their own efficiency.
Bicycles should never be regulated, they should never be subject to road tax, they should not require third-party insurance and competence to ride a bicycle should not be tested. It tests itself, because if you can't do it, you have a crash. Bicycles are the first rung on the personal-transport ladder and should be free at the point of use. I'll champion the bicycle until I'm worn through to the canvas.
But I do have a complaint. Cyclists have become miserabilists.
Several times a week, I go for a bike ride alongside the river near where I live. It's good for me. Or at least it is until I meet another cyclist coming the other way. "Morning," I chirp, cheerfully, because I am cheerful, filling my lungs with the airy elixir and freeing up my tired old bones. Nothing.
I was keeping score for a while, but I've long since lost count. It stood at something like - May, 8,000; other cyclists, nil. I supposed I might just be coming across as a weirdo. So I then tried smiling instead. Still nothing.
People walking their dogs respond. So do people roller-skating, staggering home after a really late one, picking through bins, collecting rubbish, delivering parcels and trimming their bushes. Sometimes the dogs themselves reciprocate with a simple bark. Only cyclists reject these basic conventions of greeting that reaffirm our membership of a universal fraternity, which is being human. Just a nod of the head will do. Nothing.
Maybe these cycling crusaders don't take me seriously, since I ride in my clothes rather than in a Lycra gimp suit with TV packaging crash helmet and a stupid flashing light attached to my face. Just because I'm not dressed up as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Bellend doesn't mean I'm not a proper cyclist. I haven't been without one since the age of three. I had to be prised from one of them by a kindly old dear at the top of a Scottish mountain, as my fingers had frozen to the handlebars. Don't come over all superior with me, you saddle-faced gits.
This is what has gone wrong with the supposed bicycle revolution. In all honesty, I think there should be something in it. We could use bikes more, we could feel healthier, we could reduce some journey times and leave the roads more free for the ambulances we will eventually need to call. A bit of cycling could, possibly, improve the fiscal and physical well-being of UK plc.
But it won't happen until the people who presume to represent this ancient and excellent activity learn to do it with a bit of a smile and a wave. Either cheer up, or fall off.
Nice little piece.
But if he wants a cheery Hi, then he just needs to go a bit further North than the M25. All my riding up here is greeted with a hi, ey-up, how-do or whatever.
When I went darn saarf to ride out with an old buddy there was hardly another acknowledgment of my existence, and I was Lycra'd up.
But if he wants a cheery Hi, then he just needs to go a bit further North than the M25. All my riding up here is greeted with a hi, ey-up, how-do or whatever.
When I went darn saarf to ride out with an old buddy there was hardly another acknowledgment of my existence, and I was Lycra'd up.
Very well written piece, as normal, from Mr. May.
I too cycle to work every day in normal clothes and feel looked down upon by the Lycra-clad twonks in their silly eggbox helmets and sunglasses. I don't dress like the Stig everytime I get in a car, so why all the Froomie gear?
It's just bike after all.
I too cycle to work every day in normal clothes and feel looked down upon by the Lycra-clad twonks in their silly eggbox helmets and sunglasses. I don't dress like the Stig everytime I get in a car, so why all the Froomie gear?
It's just bike after all.
Funnily enough he has written exactly what I have been thinking the last few months.
I ride along the Tarka Trail to work (Google it, it's great). 13 miles along a disused railway line alongside two rivers. When the sun is shining and the wind isn't blowing too hard in your face it is a fantastic place to be. I feel my spirits uplifted.
Along the way i usually see about half a dozen dog walkers, who pull their charges to one side when they hear my bell, and i pass with a cheery good morning which is usually reciprocated.
Bikers on the other hand whizz past in the opposite direction without a nod, wave or smile, despite my bellowing "Morning!" at them in increasing desperation. Unlike Mr May, I am a lycra-clad biker, so should be at first glance a bona-fide member of the MAMIL club with all the due recognition that deserves.
Come on fellow bikers! You can't all be so out of breath that a muttered salutation is beyond your feeble lungs. You're not all training for the next TdF, nor attempting a Tarka Time Trial (well, you shouldn't be. Too many gates, pedestrians and roaming hounds for a decent run). Look beyond your front wheel and embrace your comrades on wheels! (but don't, like, actually try to embrace them in reality. That would be weird)
I ride along the Tarka Trail to work (Google it, it's great). 13 miles along a disused railway line alongside two rivers. When the sun is shining and the wind isn't blowing too hard in your face it is a fantastic place to be. I feel my spirits uplifted.
Along the way i usually see about half a dozen dog walkers, who pull their charges to one side when they hear my bell, and i pass with a cheery good morning which is usually reciprocated.
Bikers on the other hand whizz past in the opposite direction without a nod, wave or smile, despite my bellowing "Morning!" at them in increasing desperation. Unlike Mr May, I am a lycra-clad biker, so should be at first glance a bona-fide member of the MAMIL club with all the due recognition that deserves.
Come on fellow bikers! You can't all be so out of breath that a muttered salutation is beyond your feeble lungs. You're not all training for the next TdF, nor attempting a Tarka Time Trial (well, you shouldn't be. Too many gates, pedestrians and roaming hounds for a decent run). Look beyond your front wheel and embrace your comrades on wheels! (but don't, like, actually try to embrace them in reality. That would be weird)
It's simple. Add a feature to Strava to record how many times you smile at a fellow cyclist, make it a monthly competition. Stand back and watch the world become a friendlier place as all the slightly chubby middle-aged men hammering in to work to take back the KOM they recently lost to a middle manager from the business park past the one they work on suddenly have something else to be competitive over.
Me? I ride in my running kit but smile at everyone, it's a habit that carries over from being a runner and a motorcyclist.
Me? I ride in my running kit but smile at everyone, it's a habit that carries over from being a runner and a motorcyclist.
Yep, I agree with the article entirely.
I nod, smile, raise a hand, or say hello to all cyclists (and pedestrians on the shared use bits) I meet on my commute, but only two routinely say morning back (one of whom I rarely see, though). Both of them are older people, and I think they are local so just naturally have the village "saying hello" thing going on.
I can understand it as I get further into town, as there are perhaps just too many people and too many hazards to watch for.
I nod, smile, raise a hand, or say hello to all cyclists (and pedestrians on the shared use bits) I meet on my commute, but only two routinely say morning back (one of whom I rarely see, though). Both of them are older people, and I think they are local so just naturally have the village "saying hello" thing going on.
I can understand it as I get further into town, as there are perhaps just too many people and too many hazards to watch for.
The piece is ruined by cliches like "lyrca clad gimp suit", it just weakens all the good points he makes. He knows lycra is comfortbale, functional and stops regular clothes getting damaged/dirty, its just lazy journalism.
Go to any trackday and there are people driving round who are wearing jeans and a jumper, then there are people in full nomex underwaear, nomex race suit and custom painted helmets... oddly enough they are the misearble b
ds too...
Go to any trackday and there are people driving round who are wearing jeans and a jumper, then there are people in full nomex underwaear, nomex race suit and custom painted helmets... oddly enough they are the misearble b
ds too...pablo said:
He knows lycra is comfortbale, functional and stops regular clothes getting damaged/dirty.
He also knows it makes you look like a Gimp, or as my missus said when I showed her my new bib shorts (after she had stopped laughing), "You look like a Mexican Wrestler's rent boy!"I still wear them because they are comfortable, functional etc...
boyse7en said:
He also knows it makes you look like a Gimp, or as my missus said when I showed her my new bib shorts (after she had stopped laughing), "You look like a Mexican Wrestler's rent boy!"
I still wear them because they are comfortable, functional etc...
I wear them because I look bloody good in them...I still wear them because they are comfortable, functional etc...
CoolC said:
Nice little piece.
But if he wants a cheery Hi, then he just needs to go a bit further North than the M25. All my riding up here is greeted with a hi, ey-up, how-do or whatever.
When I went darn saarf to ride out with an old buddy there was hardly another acknowledgment of my existence, and I was Lycra'd up.
Down in sunny Essex most people say hello or nod, to the extent it can become quite annoying saying hello 10,000 times a ride (especially when you're blowing steam out of your arse trying to get up what counts as a hill here But if he wants a cheery Hi, then he just needs to go a bit further North than the M25. All my riding up here is greeted with a hi, ey-up, how-do or whatever.
When I went darn saarf to ride out with an old buddy there was hardly another acknowledgment of my existence, and I was Lycra'd up.
). A lot of stoney faces when riding in Surrey however.I must be the only miserablist then. Or perhaps not. Why the need to acknowledge others doing the same as you? If I'm on my bike and people move out the way to allow me to pass I'll always thank them, but people coming the other way - they've usually long since passed before I'd have any chance of responding. So I'll be on my merry way in silence if it's all the same to everyone else, happy in my own company minding my own business.
A really good piece from May, I think. I'm another of those weird cyclists who ride bicycles in their normal clothes rather than dressing up in lycra. I tend to smile and nod at other cyclists, and find I usually get a response from other normally-attired riders, but the lycra brigade often ignore me - which is fair enough, it doesn't particularly bother me.
I do tend to get some funny looks when on the Kalkhoff, though. Scruffy old git in Jeans, T shirt and Crocs on a fairly upright bike banging along at a brisk pace, I'm not sure many people realise it's a Pedelec.
I do tend to get some funny looks when on the Kalkhoff, though. Scruffy old git in Jeans, T shirt and Crocs on a fairly upright bike banging along at a brisk pace, I'm not sure many people realise it's a Pedelec.
Gaspode said:
Scruffy old git in Jeans, T shirt and Crocs on a fairly upright bike banging along at a brisk pace, I'm not sure many people realise it's a Pedelec.
Whenever I see these it's the leisurely cadence that tops it off. I'd like to get one so I can troll unsuspecting racers.TheInternet said:
Whenever I see these it's the leisurely cadence that tops it off. I'd like to get one so I can troll unsuspecting racers.
They are cracking fun. When I first rode one the sensation took me straight back half a century to when I was a nipper with my dad teaching me to ride, trotting along beside me helping to push me along.With regards to lycra...
A month or so, I went out on my bike with the family - up and down the Trans-Penine trail for a few miles. After we got home, I was allowed out on my own for a couple of hours before an evening appointment.
As I wanted to maximise my riding time, I just went out in cargo shorts and T-shirt rather than getting changed.
God it was uncomfortable. You could smell the chaffing for miles.
Plus I also look good in lycra....
Steve
A month or so, I went out on my bike with the family - up and down the Trans-Penine trail for a few miles. After we got home, I was allowed out on my own for a couple of hours before an evening appointment.
As I wanted to maximise my riding time, I just went out in cargo shorts and T-shirt rather than getting changed.
God it was uncomfortable. You could smell the chaffing for miles.
Plus I also look good in lycra....
Steve
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