I'm no ranting cyclist - I am a level-headed chap who cycles as much as he drives. It takes something out of the ordinary to get me to post a comment on a newspaper website, and this horrendously silly article by Mr Grimes is just it.
The litany of nonsense that flows from his pen is compounded by a complete lack of factual information. Start with maintaining that capital cities Amsterdam and Copenhagen are 'mere villages' compared to 'most British cities'. Really? Take Amsterdam - its metropolitan area comprises c.3m people, in what can only be described as a thriving metropolis - if we compare it to our beloved Manchester. I know this - I've been.
As for declaring that cycling cannot be healthy since it has such a 'high mortality rate', this is an assertion without head or tails - cycling is generally safe as a mode of transport, and like any exercise it does promote good health. It is green and it is inexpensive.
Mr Grimes then latches on to the fallacy that classes cyclists as an entirely separate tribe, opposed to 'ordinary' people, and who want to subvert civilisation as we know it to accommodate their extravagant sport. Far from it, most cyclists, like myself, are ordinary people who want nothing more than for other road users (drivers, pedestrians, other cyclists) to observe the law and act and follow the highway code - thus avoiding, for instance, sudden turns at junctions without indicating.
One could go on for ages but that would mean bestowing on Mr Grimes a journalistic status he does not deserve. He mascarades as the voice of the common man - he is not.
Read more at: http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/comment/blogs/s/1472953_andrew-grimes-why-the-bicycle-has-no-place-on-our-city-roads
2 comments:
I just couldn't believe that article when I read it (and it has been spread far and wide). Like you, I drive and ride my bike every day - my commute is actually too long for me to do entirely by bike, so I have a folding bike that I keep in my trunk and ride in to work everyday (a little less than halfway). As a driver, I really don't understand the perspective that cyclists don't belong on the roads at all. It's just such an extreme position.
I just read that unintentionally hilarious article! Sub-Daily Mail pseudo-populist nonsense that just serves to underline the MEN's increasing irrelevance beyond sport coverage.
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