Telegraph sees it from the cyclist point of view

SleepDoc · 02-12-2009 1:06am #1

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/active/6702627/Cycle-diary-what-has-happened-to-my-bike-lane.html

Lumen · 02-12-2009 8:58am

Video wrote:

I'm David Millward. I'm doing this because I hate cyclists.

Article wrote:

I have to swerve out into the middle of the road and hope that I don't get clipped by a taxi....My entire route is based on avoiding right turns where possible and I am not too keen on having to swerve around obstacles on what I thought was supposed to be "my bit of road".

Face. Palm.

mmclo · 02-12-2009 9:56am

Can we all have a manservant to hold the bike for us?

Chips Lovell · 02-12-2009 10:04am

Did this guy just learn how to ride a bike? It's like watching Val Falvey TD. "Turning is interesting".

Eoin D · 02-12-2009 10:07am

Turning is quite interesting

Was this man ever a child?

Fair play to him though, I hope more journalists give it a shot!

petethedrummer · 02-12-2009 10:13am

Well he gave it a go and it only took him one ride to admit cycle lanes are next to useless. Better than that chap who writes for the herald.

Canis Lupus · 02-12-2009 10:16am

Jeez that man is a wobble disaster. He'll be under a lorry in no time if that video is anything to go by.

monkeypants · 02-12-2009 10:37am

I think he's very brave. I think he should have practiced a wee bit more before he went out into London traffic, but he seems to have got to his destination okay. Fair play to him for at least investigating "the other side" rather than just writing about it.

I started cycling again this year and I find it both fun and terrifying. I used to cycle everywhere when I was younger. I must not have noticed the traffic at all.

Lumen · 02-12-2009 10:42am

petethedrummer wrote: »

Well he gave it a go and it only took him one ride to admit cycle lanes are next to useless.

Except that he's the Transport Editor of a major national broadsheet, yet he clearly has no idea of how to drive or cycle properly (as demonstrated by his complete lack of observation and anticipation skills).

Captain Havoc · 02-12-2009 10:53am

Fair play to him, I thought it was refreshing that someone actually got on a bike as opposed to the usual bike bashing. At the end of the day he hopes to keep it up, which is a long way from the "I hate cyclists" at the beginning. One less car and he's been succesfully converted

blorg · 02-12-2009 10:57am

OK, so he's a beginner. We have a self-professed cyclist-hater here who within days of actually getting on a bike already understands one of the biggest issues, that cycle lanes are crap. That is pretty good progress. Good on him for actually getting on a bike to see what it is like rather than just spouting vitriol about bloody cyclists not using lanes, etc etc. If more people did this our lives would be a lot easier.

Raam · 02-12-2009 11:00am

blorg wrote: »

If more people did this our lives would be a lot easier.

Ah now, our lives ain't so bad

topper75 · 02-12-2009 11:05am

Credit to Mr. Millward.

I used to bike around London quite a bit before. Most of it is flat and you can cover miles without thinking. There is no congestion zone issue and you can usually lock your bike near to or right outside your destination with no charge. Yes traffic can be aggressive and you do need a good lock to deter thieves.

niceonetom · 02-12-2009 11:06am

Lumen wrote: »

Except that he's the Transport Editor of a major national broadsheet, yet he clearly has no idea of how to drive or cycle properly (as demonstrated by his complete lack of observation and anticipation skills).

He did manage to mention where he went to college though, and almost immediately too. That certainly has much more to do with his current position that any trifling real world skills. Any oik can drive.

An easy man to dislike, yes, but I'm still glad to see his like actually experiencing riding on the road and challenging their own prejudices. It's the people who "hate cyclists" who should be most encouraged to ride a mile in our toe straps. A bit more rudimentary training would be prudent though as "Journalist on Bicycle Decapitated by London Bus" wouldn't be a helpful headline.

Toffs on bikes? Is this the 'Boris effect' then? Next we need to get white van drivers and cabbies on two wheels for a week.

Chips Lovell · 02-12-2009 11:08am

If you got a journalist who'd never driven before or had driven in 20 years to suddently get into a car and drive to work and then write a piece about the experience of driving in the city, how representative of the experience for the average motorist would that be? That's kind of my problem with these kind of pieces.

Raam · 02-12-2009 11:09am

el tonto wrote: »

If you got a journalist who'd never driven before or had driven in 20 years to suddently get into a car and drive to work and then write a piece about the experience of driving in the city, how representative of the experience for the average motorist would that be? That's kind of my problem with these kind of pieces.

Will you write about your commute some day? What are the chances of that being published? I'm not being smart, I think it would be interesting to read.

petethedrummer · 02-12-2009 11:11am

Lumen wrote: »

Except that he's the Transport Editor of a major national broadsheet, yet he clearly has no idea of how to drive or cycle properly (as demonstrated by his complete lack of observation and anticipation skills).

I am of the firm belief that the higher up you go in an department the less the person knows about the subject. It would not surprise me if he didn't even have a driving license.

Chips Lovell · 02-12-2009 11:11am

Raam wrote: »

Will you write about your commute some day? What are the chances of that being published? I'm not being smart, I think it would be interesting to read.

I would if I was asked. But we're not the kind of paper that devotes acres of coverage to this kind of thing. I am reviewing an electric bike this week though, which I used for commuting.

Raam · 02-12-2009 11:12am

el tonto wrote: »

I would if I was asked. But we're not the kind of paper that devotes acres of coverage to this kind of thing. I am reviewing an electric bike this week though, which I used for commuting.

Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Must buy the paper this weekend. Getting any funny looks?

Lumen · 02-12-2009 11:12am

blorg wrote: »

OK, so he's a beginner. We have a self-progressed cyclist-hater here who within days of actually getting on a bike already understands one of the biggest issues, that cycle lanes are crap. That is pretty good progress. Good on him for actually getting on a bike to see what it is like rather than just spouting vitriol about bloody cyclists not using lanes, etc etc. If more people did this our lives would be a lot easier.

This piece follows the tried and trusted model of "emphathising with the inept". The problem with this is...

BikeSnob wrote:

While mainstream publications will generally require that people who write about movies, or cuisine, or cars, or finance, or politics have at least a basic understanding of them, when it comes to cycling they like to pick writers who are completely clueless. This is because they assume their readers also know nothing about cycling and will be more likely to accept information from and relate to somebody like them. This is not true. People actually read things to gain information, and they actually like it when writers know more than they do. Even a hacky movie critic knows the difference between a film and a sitcom, even the lamest automotive journalist can tell a manual transmission from an automatic, and even the worst political analyst knows the difference between the Senate and the House of Representatives. Bicycles should be treated like computers by the media, in that both were once the domain of nerds and children but are now totally commonplace and thus can be written about with more sophistication. The media does this with computers, but when it comes to bikes they still write about them like they're reciting the alphabet over and over again to a bunch of children--only they keep getting the letter order wrong.

So what's the result? The ignorant stay ignorant

tomasrojo · 02-12-2009 11:13am

Boris and Ken - as well as those kind folk at the City of London - have put in loads of cycle lanes for those of us who choose to save the planet on our way into work.

This is a really tiresome feature of articles about cycling. As far as I know, one of the least common reasons for cycling is a desire "to save the planet". It's fast, cheap and healthy. I'm quite sure that those are more convincing reasons to cycle for most people.

tomasrojo · 02-12-2009 11:15am

He does give the lie to the old trope: "you never forget how to ride a bike".

tomasrojo · 02-12-2009 11:18am

He did pick up very quickly, as someone else said, that cycle lanes are rubbish.

Also, I'm quite impressed by how quickly he picked up how important negotitation is.

Chips Lovell · 02-12-2009 11:25am

Raam wrote: »

Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Must buy the paper this weekend. Getting any funny looks?

A few on the first evening. The battery ran out within a minute of leaving the office and I hadn't figured out how to raise the saddle so I was left cycling home on what looked like a bike that was way to small for me. Motorists were slowing down to look as they passed. Once I got it up and running I got a few funny looks overtaking people on road bikes who obviously didn't realise I was utilising the "turbo boost" button.

Raam · 02-12-2009 11:27am

el tonto wrote: »

A few on the first evening. The battery ran out within a minute of leaving the office and I hadn't figured out how to raise the saddle so I was left cycling home on what looked like a bike that was way to small for me. Motorists were slowing down to look as they passed. Once I got it up and running I got a few funny looks overtaking people on road bikes who obviously didn't realise I was utilising the "turbo boost" button.

Heh heh, a roadie on an electric bike. Unstoppable!

short circuit · 02-12-2009 11:42am

It surprises me how quickly some of them accelerate ... especially at lights starting uphill. There is usually one guy who comes along the canal and turns left onto Ranelagh road and at least upto UCD ...

Have been caught out by him a couple of times. When you just can't believe that someone on such a poorly set up heavy bike could be moving so quickly ... till huffing and puffing you finally catch up to realise you've been had.

concussion · 02-12-2009 11:47am

el tonto wrote: »

If you got a journalist who'd never driven before or had driven in 20 years to suddently get into a car and drive to work and then write a piece about the experience of driving in the city, how representative of the experience for the average motorist would that be? That's kind of my problem with these kind of pieces.

I've been commuting by bike for 9 years now and had my first driving lesson last weekend...I'll let you know how I get on when I meet 'traffic'.

blorg · 02-12-2009 1:00pm

Lumen wrote: »

This piece follows the tried and trusted model of "emphathising with the inept". The problem with this is...

This article is not in the category decried by the Snob. It's moving from "as a driver, cyclists behave like wánkers" to "as a driver, I don't understand why cyclists behave the way they do, so I decided to step into their shoes to try to find out." And it seems that he is finding out a lot of the basics that are understood by most cyclists (like that cycle lanes are crap) but are utterly not understood by motorists píssed off at cyclists not using them. As such it is quite a rare piece.

Compare the likes of this article here by him 18 months ago, there are plenty more if you do a search. I think it is good that he is willing to give it a go, most are happy to criticise without any understanding.

Lumen · 02-12-2009 1:14pm

blorg wrote: »

Compare the likes of this article here by him 18 months ago, there are plenty more if you do a search.

Hold the front page, ignorant twunt becomes slightly less ignorant. Have our expectations really sunk that low?

tomasrojo · 02-12-2009 2:33pm

My expectations of the media in depicting cyclists and cyling are very low indeed.

mmclo · 02-12-2009 10:36pm

Maybe the real focus shouldn't be on the author but the paper. I suspect you could hardly get a more hostile group to cyclists than Telegraph readers? Maybe they are the ones to be convinced or possibly they are impossible to convince

DirkVoodoo · 02-12-2009 11:25pm

Christ, that was like watching "moron on a reasonably priced bike". Maybe we need a proper top gear style show for cycling enthusiasts, get Stephen Roche and Sean Kelly to do crazy tasks like cycle a BSO from Dublin to Cork.

Yes, at least he is trying, maybe it will encourage others to start.

monument · 03-12-2009 1:05am

Am I wrong for looking on the bright side of this (ie going from "I hate cyclists" to "I'm going to try to keep cycling up")?

And, if there's a political aim to get more people cycling, is it really the experienced cyclists who generally do not mind traffic who matter?

DirkVoodoo · 03-12-2009 1:19am

monument wrote: »

Am I wrong for looking on the bright side of this (ie going from "I hate cyclists" to "I'm going to try to keep cycling up")?

And, if there's a political aim to get more people cycling, is it really the experienced cyclists who generally do not mind traffic who matter?

My only problem with it was that to the average observer it may seem cycling is very dangerous. I'm sure plenty of people can relate to him and not see that (a) he was possibly the worst cyclist I have ever seen. I have never seen someone wobble like that, unless they are under the age of 5 and (b) he compared a hybrid to a porsche, i.e. a powerful sportscar that can be spun into a ditch by an inexperienced driver. I've never found hybrids anything but stable and a little boring even when starting out. Maybe they first time you take a sharp corner it feels a little odd, but he was wobbling taking off.

Anyway, I just hope that people see he is more a danger to himself than any of the traffic around him. Hopefully he realises this too as his diary progresses.

Telegraph sees it from the cyclist point of view

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