UKC

This article's worth a read:

http://gu.com/p/4t9bm

John Redhead's recent comment of "What the f*ck road cyclists! Get on a f*cking hamster wheel f*ckers!" probably has similar roots, albeit more succinctly expressed.

In reply to Clauso:

Interesting. I think he has a point to some extent but I feel it overstates the trend a bit (but that's probably just that his experience is different from mine). Two other things strike me about the article though. First, he seems to presume all cyclists are men. Secondly, it always looks bad when people are judgemental about those other people who they dislike because they're judgemental.

In reply to Clauso:

I liked the article, it's one of the reasons I'm strongly considering picking up a mountain bike. I do about 20 miles a day but it's strictly for commuting, I mean I enjoy the open air but I can't say I enjoy the route, or the traffic. I want a mountain bike so I can go off the beaten track and just cycle out down canal paths and through trails.

The only thing that's holding me back from ordering one now (on the work cycle to work scheme!) is what's mentioned in the article, family. Having a 3 year old girl makes it difficult to find time to go out adventuring and I don't know if it'd just sit gathering dust.

In reply to Clauso:

The bloke comes across as a bit of a muppet really. Standard better when it wasnt trendy line.
Starts off by pointing out he reads the cool mags to show he is a true adventurer. Also complains about commercialisation whilst pushing a video done by a shop to push their products.

In reply to KevinD:


Do you mind!?! I'm the author!... Not really, it was me mum wot wrote it.

I see what you're saying though. He makes some points that had me nodding to myself, but there's a fair bit of 'holier than thou' about it all.

So he's paid as a journalist to write an article deploring commercialisation & the irony apparently escapes him.

It takes a particular kind of muesli-knitting miserabilism to choose not to celebrate more people getting off their backsides out and exercising in the open air, whatever kind of bike they may have, however much they might be choosing to spend on it.

If you re-read the Redhead piece it seems more that as a driver, he was upset being stuck behind some cyclists. Poor thing.

In reply to Clauso:

Sounds like he has a big chip on his shoulder about people coming into 'his' sport. There's loads of adventurous cycling going on if he looks for it, he should ride an Audax or two. If he wants to ride in denim shorts and stop and smoke spliffs then no one is stopping him but it's not really surprising that there won't be many joining him. His rose tintacled specs are sadly pretty misted up, back in his day club cycling normally involved some old bloke shouting at everyone where as now it is way more inclusive and accessible. A clickbait article from the Guardian!

In reply to Clauso:

"... spend more money, own the best stuff, be the quickest (or whatever). And it bores the shit out of me."

I think that applies to most things these days!

In reply to Clauso:
"Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race" H. G. Wells

This guy seems to be complaining that other people have discovered the same joy that he has, but he's annoyed that they don't quite enjoy it in the same way that he does, and feels he has the right to tell them that they are wrong and he is right. His authority to dictate seems to come merely from the fact that he has been doing it for longer.

I guess the equivalent in climbing is the guy who thinks we should all be out at Wilton on a wet weekend in November rather than at an indoor wall or bolt clipping in Spain.

If someone want to a do a sportive on a 10 grand carbon bike dressed in full sky kit then that's fine by me. It's not how I would choose to spend my money or my time, but I really can't see the harm. Buying a ferrari and speeding down country lanes on the other hand...

Then again, maybe there is a north-south divide on these things - up here you'll see all sorts of people riding all sorts of bikes for all sorts of reasons with all sorts of attitudes.

As for John Redhead - he does seem to have a tendency towards the rabid rant but is there a context ?

In reply to Chris the Tall:


Yeah, sorry; a link may have been handy:

http://footlesscrow.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/sinking-like-stone.html

In reply to Chris the Tall:


Same here. Hampshire.

In reply to Clauso:

Nothing wrong with riding a carbon bike fast and wearing lycra; it's damned good fun, keeps you amazingly fit and the kit is great to wear.

In reply to Clauso:

The Redhead piece reads like Will Self parodying Russell Brand writing in his 6th form mag.

Cycling fast in lycra on carbon in blue or white for the boys, pink or white for the girls, black shorts for both, is cool, as RR says above, end of.

In reply to Clauso:


That seems to be the guardian piece turned up to 12. If people dont follow his particular preference then rant away.
Still I guess writing that would have been cheaper than hiring a counselor.

In reply to Clauso:

Redhead sounds like a narrow minded fool, one man's bouldering problem is another man's sprint segment on strava and to suggest that the people heading out on their road bikes are any different to those heading to the hills for a walk/climb/MTB ride is silly. Most roadies I know also have MTBs in the shed and a trad rack in the cupboard.

In reply to Clauso:


Bollocks. Cycle racing has always been there, in club form. A mate has raced on and off, since he was 14. And we've always been made to feel welcome by racers and supporters when we've turned up to support him.

I'd say the big change is in the growth of commercial sportives and the like.

Ride your own ride. If you want to chase Strava segments, that's fine. If you want to join a club and do time trials, that's fine. If you want to go out with a few mates, bimbling along bridleways on mountain bikes, that's fine. If you want to go to prepared XC and DH trail parks, that's fine. If you don't like one branch of cycling, or the types it attracts, do your own thing; no-one's forcing you to conform.

In reply to Clauso:


"Not admiring the view" is perhaps a novel entry in the great pantheon of excuses used by motorists as to why cyclists annoy them, but it's no more valid than the more common reason of "wearing lycra".

We live in a country with an obesity epidemic, where kids spend less time outdoors than prisoners, and he complains that Llanberis is full of skinny people exercising.

Someone amongst the ranting and sneering is a valid point - sometimes we can let our competitive side get too dominant, cloud our vision of what's important. But it can also motivate to do things you wouldn't otherwise do.

How does he know that the cyclists with their heads down when he was behind them didn't admire the view on the way up, weren't on their way to explore some backwater lanes ? And how many kids introduced to climbing via indoor walls have gone on to climb extensively in wild and wonderful places ?

In reply to Chris the Tall:

And, if they'd been sitting up, admiring the view, he would, no doubt, have complained that they were dawdling along idly...

In reply to Kieran_John:
Get a mountain bike and do what I did, drop down to working 3 days a week (if you are a 5 day a week man). You also have to move to the mountains if not already there. I ride every Monday and sometimes Tuesday and I can ride amazing trails in a stunning setting for an entire day and hardly see anyone. I can't relate to the article at all because it is a million miles from what I know. As for the children, my youngest (5) is really getting into his bike and longer rides, in the Forest of Dean for example, are great fun.

In reply to Clauso:

"Third, it’s just another example of something lovely, free and non-corporate being turned into a mega industry. And that makes me sad. Can’t we have some things which don’t get packaged up, branded and marketed? Isn’t there any part of life where I can experience a freedom from corporatism without have my experience re-packaged and sold back to me?"

That bit resonates with me, not specifically about cycling, but about life in general in 2016.

In reply to Clauso:

Load of rubbish IMHO, beyond the simple observation that there are many more people cycling. Some statements are just arrant nonsense in the context of the rest of the guff: 'Moreover, I worry that this fake professionalisation in leisure cycling hides the joy from people who might otherwise have got involved.'

My club turned out probably about 100 people last Sunday - all shapes, sizes, ages and paces, in groups of no more than 8. I took a group of five out and we went to places I had never been before. The more I hear people say 'never been down this road before' the better. We stopped and chatted to two other cyclists we met at the top of a stupid steep hill while we waited for the group to get back together. We were out for 42 miles and saw half a dozen other cyclists on the road in total - until we got to Box Hill (going down), which was a touch surreal last Sunday.

It's like all of these things - you can be intimidated by others doing well, (or appearing to do well), or you can just get stuck in and find out what it's all about and if it's for you. You can seek out the quieter locations, or go to Stanage popular.

PS. Our 'hill du jour' was one of the few around here with two wee arrows on the OS map, but it's off the beaten track a bit, and so there's rarely anyone there.



By the standards of 15-20 years ago, we were spectacularly well-equipped, but I unashamedly lack the physical capacity to get a three speed bike up that hill.

In reply to Clauso:

Now lycra banned from the breakfast room lest bulges put diners off their scrambled eggs, or something.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/15/lycra-ban-new-zealand-hotel-bu...