So why worrry about the fact they can make cycling look stylish?
The appearance of someone on a bike matters not, the fact they are appearing on a bike does
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Debate!
Positive images of cycling, please can we have more?
(35 posts)-
Posted 13 years ago #
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Is he likely to kill anyone?
Himself. Or someone else in his group? (It was from a CM ride as seen on Flickr) Unlikely I know. Admittedly highly remote.
First rule / bit of advice I was given about riding in a group - have your hands over the brakes at all times. If something's going to happen, it will happen so fast you probably wont have time to do anything other than squeeze.
I just strikes me as giving unneccessary fuel to pour on the smouldering fires of other people's stereotypes of cyclists.
Personally I find I need to concentrate on whats in front of me (i.e. potholes) at all times, particularly in the dark or when cycling in the gutterline and I need both ears free to listen out for approaching traffic. I also don't find trying to get a phone out, work it, then put it back into the pocket does anything for my stability.
Posted 13 years ago # -
"So why worrry about the fact they can make cycling look stylish?
The appearance of someone on a bike matters not, the fact they are appearing on a bike does"Because it looks good to non-cyclists.
The tagline on citycycling was, from the beginning, and remains, "No matter what you ride, as long as you do", and there were offshoots like "No matter how fast you ride..." and "No matter what bike you ride..." etc etc etc. As far as I'm concerned that remains the case, and is why I don't particularly worry about what I wear on the bike - neither lycra, nor Copenhagenized.
But I do still wear 'cycling' gear, and as soon as Joe Public thinks you've got to have special gear in order to cycle it can be off-putting (certainly from conversations I've had with lots of Joe Public in the course of producing Citycycling). Seeing someone 'stylish' (it's a bad way of putting it, but since it was me who put it that way I guess I have to carry on) is a much more positive view of cycling (the point of this thread) to those who don't cycle than I could ever imagine to be.
I don't 'worry' about it, I just 'like' seeing it.
Posted 13 years ago # -
There do seem to be more people getting about on bikes these days, and more older people at that. As cycling become "normal" rather than something of a "counter culture" we are going to see all sorts of people on bikes, and that has to be a good thing :-)
Posted 13 years ago # -
Funnily enough I just had a wee walk out to the post office and saw four cyclists.
Cyclist one - lady on an MTB, yellow jacket and helmet, with v good road positioning.
Cyclist two - woman in jeans and summery top with child in kiddy seat on the top tube, doing a very good traffic management job and looking about well at the traffic.
Cyclist three - uber-style-monkey bloke on a cool-as-bits (no sarcasm there, it was lovely) genuine-old singlespeed, sitting up, enjoying the sun.
Cyclist four - girl in skirt and tights, subtle 'p***-pot' style helmet, suede jacket.
What was noticeable is that all four looked utterly confident, and looked like they were enjoying being out on the bike in the sun. Lovely to see, and each and every one of them an advert for good cycling with perfect manners and control on the road. The car drivers, on the other hand...
Posted 13 years ago #
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