On 16/08/2012 16:12, pensive hamster wrote:
On Aug 15, 8:24 pm, Dave - Cyclists VOR
wrote:
On 15/08/2012 17:09, pensive hamster wrote:
[...]
Do you comprehend the meaning of the terms 'selective', 'misleading',
and 'interim'?

I do, but it seems you don't. There is nothing 'selective' or
'misleading' about the research at all.


You don't seem to have read or comprehended what I wrote.

Probably because I couldn't be arsed.

I did not
say that the research itself was 'selective' or 'misleading'. I said
your quote from what appears to be an interim assessment (not the
final research) was selective and misleading. You seem to be cherry-
picking the research.

Not at all. The research said, quite clearly;

"Many people barely recognise the bicycle as a legitimate mode of
transport; it is either a toy for children or a
vehicle fit only for the poor and/or strange. For them, cycling is a bit
embarrassing, they fail to see its purpose, and have no interest in
integrating it into their lives, certainly on a regular basis."

Do let me know if you have trouble with some of the big words.


Further, you do not provide a link to the actual research report so
that the reader can judge the research for themselves. You expect them
to accept your summary of the research.

I have in the past. It's public domain, GIFFS.


You seem to have, as the fragrant Mary Archer said of her husband, 'a
talent for inaccurate précis'.

How do you know Mary Archer is fragrant? I suppose she would be
compared to a sweaty, smelly cyclist husband.


That you find it contradicts
what you would like to believe is your problem.


My problem is that you seem to twist the research to suit your own
beliefs.

Good job cyclists never do that innit?



Do you have any answer to my initial questions about the kind of
people who barely recognise the bicycle as a legitimate mode of
transport?

You mean your rather pathetic attempt at humour?


I am curious to know what sort of person would hold or express the
sort of views you put in your sig.

Errm. Someone who dislikes cyclists?

Simple facts are that the general public think cyclists are a PITA.

Perhaps cyclists should adopt the chant of Millwall Football Club "No
one likes us, we don't care"?


I imagine they might be a bit like
the sort of person Steve Coogan portrayed in 'Saxondale'. Come to
think of it, I don't think I have ever seen Alan Partridge cycling,
either.

Probably has more sense.

Or I imagine they might be the sort of people who go paintballing, or
go 'offroading' in 4x4s. People who look a bit like the people in the
photo I linked to.

In which case you have a very weird imagination.

People with a poor sense of balance, who struggle
with a bicycle, wobble about all over the road, and fall off
frequently.

You miss the point completely, as most cyclists do. It's not that
people 'can't' ride push bikes - a trained monkey can do that - it's
simply that they just don't want to ride push bikes. As the research shows.


At any rate, they must be strange people, who apparently see the
bicycle as a vehicle fit only for the poor and/or strange, and who
feel cycling is a bit embarrassing.

No, just normal regular people. The man on the Clapham Omnibus.


And especially, if they fail to
see its purpose, that suggests they must be people of very limited
intelligence. One imagines they would be totally flummoxed by a
wheelbarrow, for example.

As I said above, you must have a very weird imagination.


Do you find cycling a bit embarrassing?

I think cyclists are an embarrassment to themselves. The general public
think so too. "For them, cycling is a bit embarrassing".


You've changed the quote now, from '"Many people' to 'the general
public'. They are not equivalent terms. Do you have a link to any
research showing how many people think cycling is a bit embarrassing?

Neither are the terms contradictory. The 'General Public' is not a
measure of numbers. Did you mention comprehension skills earlier?


Grown men riding children's toys? Clad in fluorescent lycra?


OK, I agree about the fluorescent lycra.

As Mr Clarkson said "dressed like extras in a gay rave movie".

Do you get any
exercise?

Plenty thank you. BTW - cycling isn't the only form of exercise
available. In fact it's not even a very good form of exercise.



Face the facts.

Which facts would you like me to face?

The facts that the general public think cyclists are poor or strange,
and an embarrassment.


Maybe on planet Dave they think that.

Nope. Planet Earth. As the research clearly indicates.

If cyclists had any social skills & interacted with normal people, they
would realise how they are perceived.


--
Dave - Cyclists VOR. "Many people barely recognise the bicycle as a
legitimate mode of transport; it is either a toy for children or a
vehicle fit only for the poor and/or strange," Dave Horton, of Lancaster
University, wrote in an interim assessment of the Understanding Walking
and Cycling study. "For them, cycling is a bit embarrassing, they fail
to see its purpose, and have no interest in integrating it into their
lives, certainly on a regular basis."