Yet another anti-cycling rant...

This time the call is not 'Don't cycle on the footway!' Instead it's
'Don't cycle on the road!...

Mallett on Sunday:

On yer bikes - but off the road, please

THE first indication of the season of rebirth is about to reveal itself
any weekend now. But it won't be the brave little crocus defying the
elements or the platoon of ducklings following mum across the lake.
This harbinger of things to come is clad in skin-tight Lycra with
streamlined headwear in fashionable back-to-front style and mounted on
two wheels.

Prepare to face the club cyclist, thighs bulging with toned muscle,
lean as a whippet, programmed to pump the pedals for as long as it
takes - and a menace to every motorist. You'll see 'em strung out along
the A6, the A505 and a score or more of other highways. They wobble and
waver and a line of them is harder to negotiate than the largest
juggernaut. Sorry to say this, lads, but cycling either for pleasure or
competition should be banned from major roads.

It is astonishing that such routes continue to be selected for club
outings. Get the Ordnance Survey out and make use of the country lanes.
Cars have no business there unless their drivers are either lost or
doolally and the air will be all the sweeter for the absence of exhaust
fumes. You might even be able to make a case for closing certain byways
to traffic for a couple of hours on a Sunday - even though you don't
pay a penny for riding on them. Failing that, there are plenty of
disused aerodromes around which Prescott hasn't yet got round to
commandeering for housing and lord knows how many thousands of acres of
MoD land lying idle. There couldn't be any more ruts, potholes and bear
traps on these sites than there are on the roads, in case you're
worried about smashing up your bikes.

Older residents of this area will remember racing bikes whizzing round
the lower sports ground at Wardown. The grass track could still prove a
greater test than any purpose-built velodrome and provide some
thundering good entertainment. The council might turn a bit funny,
though, because I seem to recall the terracing around the arena being
declared unsafe for spectators. According to the bureaucrats, it should
have fallen down around the time Harold Wilson became Prime Minister.
But it's still there and I'd risk it. Be nice to see the ground
offering regular attractions. Apart from spasmodic hockey and cricket,
it is unused - but don't tell Prescott.

Elsewhere, I'm sure Luton United would share their athletics track at
Stockwood with the wheelers. Any move to get 'em off the road is to be
encouraged and commended. As it is, they ride at their peril - as
horrifyingly demonstrated by the incident in Wales three weeks ago
which saw four fatalities in the course of a club run. Perhaps clubs
could be asked to engage in a voluntary ban. And this is one instance
where a bit more nannying wouldn't go amiss.

http://www.lsnmedia.co.uk/luton/page...&storyID=38020

When driving, it can be a bit tricky overtaking a large group of
cyclists. When cycling in a large group, I try and leave a big gap
between me and the bike in front so that vehicles have somewhere to
pull in and overtake us a few at a time.

On Wed, 15 Feb 2006 03:05:17 -0800, ukrc wrote:

This time the call is not 'Don't cycle on the footway!' Instead it's
'Don't cycle on the road!...

I simply can't think of the words to reply to this, and will let others do
so.
I do want to comment that this is part of a disturbing trend in our media.
I'm beginning to think that if drivel like this is spouted enough it will
come to represent the truth in the mind of the man on the Clapham Omnibus.

wrote in message
ups.com...
Get the Ordnance Survey out and make use of the country lanes.
Cars have no business there unless their drivers are either lost or
doolally

I see no reason why I shouldn't drive my car down country lanes, just the
same as I should be able to cycle on main roads. These are quite often safer
because they are quite wide and have a lot of room for cars to take avoiding
action.

Bob wrote:
When driving, it can be a bit tricky overtaking a large group of
cyclists. When cycling in a large group, I try and leave a big gap
between me and the bike in front so that vehicles have somewhere to
pull in and overtake us a few at a time.

I call that getting dropped.

--
Dave...

wrote:

" ... and a menace to every motorist."

Wrong way round, Shirley?

--
Dave...

Yawn; IMBW but there is a perfectly good motorway in those parts, how
about banning cars from the A6?
I thought it was Timmy Mallett when I first saw the thread.
He had to get the "not paying to use the roads" bit in I suppose.
Anyone wish to do the usual reply?

Hmm. The folks in Luton seem to be in a bad mood. That wouldn't be
anything to do with General Motors being about to go bust, would it?
It must be a bit unsettling to lose the town's major industry. You
won't even be able to get a job at the airport, now that the low cost
airlines are discouraging people from checking baggage.

Jeremy Parker

John Hearns wrote:

I simply can't think of the words to reply to this,


I can think of a word for the author - c**t.
S.

just another ignoramus drivelling, press equivalent of a troll. Please
don't justify his existence by replying to him.