Herald Sun Anti-Bike Hysteria

[stoff]

Check out the link below from the Herald Sun today.

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22370399-2862,00.html

You have got to love the ability of a reporter to blatantly ignore the facts presented to them and completely contradict themselves within a story in order to generate some anti-cycling hysteria. The policeman actually says the speed limit signs on Southbank have as much legal clout as a "Don't feed the birds" sign. Don't start me on the dangers of steering your bicycle one-handed whilst drinking from your water bottle.

Melbourne's sports radio station SEN were pretty quick to jump on the anti-cyclist bandwagon as well this morning, running a pole on what percentage of listeners believe that cyclists are a danger on the roads (72% apparently). You would have thought with the World Championships starting today they could have given that a bit of air time, given they are a dedicated sports station.

 

[DC Dan]

One man wobbled through walkers at 17km/h with one hand controlling his bike while talking on a mobile phone.

A female rider was dodging pedestrians one-handed while drinking from her water bottle with the other.

And another male rider cruised through the crowds entirely hands-free.

HAHAHAHA good on them, at least we're not causing global warming by driving.

 

[eternalgorias]

Few of the cyclists appeared to slow down yesterday, even after seeing the radar gun, but only one became abusive and suggested pedestrians should get out of his way.

And so they should, kooky pedestrians.

Haha that article was funny, must be struggling for stories today or let the work experience kid have a crack. They put a lot of effort in to writing a report no one really gives a stuff about except old grandpas.



17kms/h....those irresponsible cycle hoons!

 

[Gluey_trails]

Kind of stupid, how are they meant to know that they are travelling at 10km/h

 

[DHDom]

we cant win can we! if were driving our cars we get told off for causing global walming and if we ride our bikes we get told that we go 2 fast and are a danger to people driving and walking

 

[Randy Rhoads]

"endangering the lives"

What a load of crap.

 

[Povi]

all i want is for the general public to understand that any anyone riding a bike (all of us) more then just from A to B will possess a higher skill in bike control then any other cyclist. we aren't the ones hitting people, its kooks that do not have the capablility to use their bicycle safely and do so on the footpath.

 

[Lemontime]

Oh how I long to ride through there at upwards of 50 K's an hour, hands free, no helment, drinking from my water bottle and talking on my mobile phone...

Speeding: a radar gun catches cyclists riding at more than the posted 10km/h limit.

Maybe if you go REALLY fast the gun will explode?

 

[AN AUSSIE]

i consider myself a danger on the road. haha

 

[Andy.G]

It does get a bit crazy through there ...

However, it is actually the start/end of the Melbourne 'Centenary Trail' as gazetted in the fabulous Melbourne bike trail literature, is it not ?? ... Doing the loop anti-clockwise and you have been riding on a shared footpath for quite a way before you get here ... then you get to the Crown Packer-sino and the bi-ped crowd numbers explode ... perhaps it could be seen inversely, that it is a pedestrian-on-bike-path problem, Hmmm ?? Barrelling through the constant radius loopy subways over near the Polly Woodside was more fun and waaay more dangerous at warp factor seven, just less ped populated.

I rode it many many times whilst revisiting my home town and at lunch times it's pretty mad. No different to any other inner city combat riding though. I like it, it's like jousting practice. I nearly creased a seagull through there - that could've scared and scarred the kiddies !!!

One point in favour of slowing down is that it is a great perv through here. (Sorry, total loss of political correctness there.)

< I can visualise the Chaser guys on unicycles dressed up like the cat-in-the-hat, playing harmonicas, fish bowls on head, juggling and wobbling through here frightening those poor plodding pedestrian souls >

note to self - do not set this example to 10y.o son.

 

[Callum]

Reading this made me pretty angry. Its obvious there is no news around at the moment when they have to make news like this.
Would they rather the bloke drive a car at 80km/h weaving in and out of traffic while on the phone?

 

[fleshbone]

Bahahahahaha, i can be a contributer to this, my mates and i are speed hoones. Partial to the fact that we don't care but also to prove these weirdos right. I aint going to lie and say i don't act like an arrogant rider. I zoom in and out of traffic. It's funny, pedestrians complain about us on the footpath,even on the road; but i remember once riding on the road into the city, this dude has stepped out on the road and i did'nt even see him and i've collect him. We came to a hault and he was screaching that he was sore,i went off my bloody rocket, he tried saying it was my fault,i lost the plot even further.

As some have said,we can never win,and since we never do win, i'll continue to ride the way i do-only looking at for myself.

 

[fattyandthepiemakers]

If you speed you have to pay the price.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DURUeexJXLY

 

[fatass]

Hehe, everyone post back some comments. But make sure you edit them so as it will be not an attack on the newspaper! I found out after I spent 10 minutes typing an attack on the paper and on pedestrians and realised it had to be checked and published. But post some long winded essay up everybody and togethor we will outnumber those pedestrians!

 

[PINT of Stella. mate!]

Oh dear,

We're getting villified by a paper that lionises "Colourful Melbourne Characters such as Mick Gatto, Chopper Read and Dannii Minogue"

The one saving grace the Herald Sun has is the fact that despite the hatred-inspiring bile it'll regularly dispense on small sections of the community, it rarely stops to focus for more than a day or two. Give it 24 hrs and it'll be back to crying out against binge drinking (on an opinion page preceding a two-page Dan Murphy's sale ad) and lamenting how modern society is now rife with violent thieves and murderers(mostly immigrants, of course) unlike the good old days of Ned Kelly, The Painters and Dockers, and Ivan Milat, where you could leave your front door unlocked and enjoy a sarsparilla down the milk bar without a care in the world...

 

[DC Dan]

Cyclests have a write to the road just as much as the next person therefore we must abide by the rules, but that doesn't mean we can't have a little fun on the way to work, school, or your favourite place to ride, i.e swerving, speeding and the best of all bunny hopping up gutters .

On a serious note, people walking on the footpath seem to have a built in sence that we can't see them or that we are going to hit them no matter what but...They never stop and think that we actually care too much about our beautiful ride to scratch it by running into them.