First we have James Martin, a TV chef, having a good bitch about cyclists and advocating (for that is what the article implies) knocking cyclists off their bikes by distracting them. He later apologised, stating that it was all misjudged humour. Yet it certainly attracted a large number of people in the comments of the Daily Mail and The Register (and elsewhere) bemoaning cyclists (and cyclists bemoaning car drivers).
Today, the Daily Mail publishes this article about how the West London borough of Kensington & Chelsea launching a new scheme to allow cyclists to go both ways down one-way streets. Now, I'm not particularly thrilled about this idea unless this scheme has some form of method to allow cyclists and cars to travel safely down such streets. However, the comments in the article are very vitriolic against cyclists again.
As somebody who has chosen not to drive, does not own a car (by choice) and relies on both cycling and public transport, I must object strongly to all this negativity against cyclists. There are plenty of excellent and well-behaved cyclists as there are car drivers. And similarly, there are plenty of bad cyclists as well as bad car drivers. I myself try to obey the Highway Code at all times. I do not cycle through red lights. I do not whizz through pedestrian crossings. I wear reflective clothing when necessary, and use front and rear lights when dark. I do not mount pavements and should and force pedestrians out the way. In short – I try to be a good road user.
As for the lycra debate, I do wear lycra leggings for cycling. These stop chaffing around the vitals (and as such, I also wear long T-shirts to avoid any embarrassments), keep the dirt, rain and mud off my regular clothes, and are light and comfortable. Surrealist statement of the day: my leggings do NOT make me go any faster or slower than somebody wearing jeans or loose shorts.
I also wear a helmet. Regardless of how effective or ineffective they may be in an impact, it's certainly better than not wearing one at all.
I try to keep my breaks and other essential components well maintained. As such I pass my bike to a specialist bike shop for them to do the work. This ensures that I don't muck anything up.
No cyclist or car driver is any better than one another. What's important is that we both share the road amicably and according to the laws set out in the Highway Code. Sometimes we both may not get it right, but providing everybody is paying attention, then accidents should be kept to a minimum.
What we do need is more bike lanes if I were to be honest..