Before I go on (and I will), I know it's a cliche for anyone with a cycling rant to mention Jeremy Clarkson and so I apologise in advance.Believe it or not, I'm not going to claim he is 100% evil and the like. Rather, I'm merely going to witter about his appearance on This Morning this morning (aptly enough).
Fern Britton (you would think my life revolves round This Morning to read the recent entries on this) asked Jeremy Clarkson about his supposed hatred for cyclists (this is something I'm sure you'll be able to find out about online easily) and he said it isn't a problem with cyclists or cycling but rather a specific sort of cyclist. He referred to the type of cyclist as (and I've heard this cliched term before and know some find it especially offensive) 'cycle Nazis'. I don't think he was really comparing them to actual Nazis but rather was attempting to be amusing in some manner. Anyway, he said the type of cyclist he has a problem with are those who wear lycra and get annoyed about cars driving near them. That would probably include me then. I wear lycra whilst cycling (although I don't have the pert buttocks they discussed briefly) and ain't too keen on cars whizzing past me within arm's reach. Then again, Jeremy Clarkson didn't get to elaborate fully and may have thought it wrong for motorists to pass cyclists quite so closely.
The vague reason behind my writing this is that Fern Britton mentioned to Jeremy Clarkson about how cyclists get parped at by motorists (and that's one of the lesser 'interactions' cyclists suffer) and he didn't seem to realise such things happen at all. I just wonder how someone can be so public in his or her opinions when s/he has such an obvious lack of knowledge on the subject s/he is talking or writing about. I'm sure it's not an isolated incident and I'm not saying Jeremy Clarkson is the only person who does this. However, the odd fool will listen to people like this and put a lot of stock in their opinions. That's not entirely the fault of people such as Jeremy Clarkson but, that written, it's fairly inconsiderate and irresponsible of them to spout off the way they do about subjects they've no knowledge on.
1 comment:
We cyclists could use an unrepentant non-apologist like Clarkson on our side. If we're in front of you, Mr. Motorist, we have Right Of Way. Tough. Get used to it. Two cyclists side by side are exactly as difficult to overtake as one car. That means we're half as annoying as cars. See? Mathmatics, that is. QED
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