Growing hostility towards Mountainbikers and Cyclists

[Rampage]

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When I was at JUNIOR school, we had an old teacher called Mr Thresh, very old school authoritarian...

At playtime he would 'supervise' our 'British Bulldogs,' and in the winter he would go out in the playground at the end of the day and chuck a couple of buckets of water along our 'slides' so that they were even better in the mornings!

He'd be sacked and prosecuted today...

...oh yes, and my Mother took first me, then my brother, everywhere in the 'babyseat' on the back of her bicycle: It was then inconceivable that we wouldn't progress through a series of bigger and bigger bikes ourselves!

Now?

PAH!!

At my primary school a dinner lady said to us "why don't you play a proper game like British Bulldog"

 

[Silvergoat]

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Social Media allows trends to propagate at great speed, as never before. The traditional media live off this new vibrant source of information, stoking up the antagonistic fires and constantly pushing our buttons every day to generate more ad revenue. They have no principals.

If the latest hate group cyclists, become more dehumanised, attacked, maimed or killed as a result of their editorial, all is good, it's just more headline grabbing news. They seem to be beyond reproach citing freedom of speech etc. The truth is, they have blood on their hands, as do those who blatantly refuse to dissuade and punish justly reckless loonies who drive like this. Cyclists are road users and human beings, we need more cyclists and healthy lifestyles. I fear that all this negative publicity will simply put many off, if it hasn't already. Let's hope it ain't so and city infrastructures and traffic systems are redesigned to accommodate safe cycling in the future.

The invention and evolution of internet technology and social media has been both a blessing and a curse. It has opened up information and communication for the masses. The democratisation of information and news communicated amongst the masses has been galling for all levels of governments and corporate institutions whose actions can be quickly highlighted and held to account by many individuals because of the speed of dissemination on social media. As a campaign tool, social media is right up there at the top. Working in the communications department of a political organisation, I can see how essential it is and what difference it can make.

Just as it can be a force for good, the flip side is that it also allows rabid, cynical and negative people and organisations to broadcast the voices that before social media, would have been trapped in their heads, never to be heard by the rest of us. News corporations facing up to decline in print consumption and the democratisation of information have learned how to feed off and cynically manipulate social media. Likewise, so have governments and politicians. Our own government regularly slaps British print and TV news editors (The Beeb in particular) with 'D Notices' in attempts to 'hide bad stuff' and close down democracy. But it's a fine line and people can easily be caught out as it's harder to hide these days with social media a finger swipe away.

Back to the topic – cities, public and community spaces really need to be designed to prioritise people, not motor vehicles and traffic. People – cyclists and pedestrians included – should not have to fear for their lives when traversing public roads. We should not feel that we are restricted to only using narrow strips of ground around the edges of rivers of endless motor traffic.

 

[legrandefromage]

The internet makes me immediately outraged on behalf of someone whom I dont know and about something I've never been involved with but I'm angry all the same.

Or, I could just go for a bike ride.

 

[Silvergoat]

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You could google image search for "I'm so angry I made a sign" but actually, one is better off just riding – it's fun, as long as no one objects...

 

[We_are_Stevo]

The internet makes me immediately outraged on behalf of someone whom I dont know and about something I've never been involved with but I'm angry all the same.

Or, I could just go for a bike ride.

I was scrolling down the page on my phone, enlarged to the point I couldn't see the User Names, but I still knew this was LGF!

 

[M-Power]

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Good post GroovyB. Too many people get so hot under the collar venting their spleens about a range of issues on Social Media. It can be tough to stomach, even if you mostly agree with their sentiments. I have strong feelings about a lot of issues as do most people but you have to take a chill pill sometimes and respect differing opinions. I'm not a believer in trying to ram your ideology into others. Opinions change anyway, which is a good thing.

 

[elPedro666]

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Opinions change anyway, which is a good thing.

But rarely because of being shouted at, so have to agree with your attitude/approach.

 

[The History Man]

Isn't this 'social media'?

What did Groucho Marx say?

 

[Silvergoat]

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"Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana. I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it."

 

[elPedro666]

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"Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana. I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it."