More: This video, commissioned by Cycling England, was presented at last year's SOLACE conference for senior managers in UK local government. There are appearances by Phillip Darnton, chair of Cycling England; Alan Jones, CEO of Somerset County Council; Caroline Lewis of Right Track cycle training; Katherine Rooney of the Bike It project; and transport minister Derek Twigg MP, the minister in charge of cycling in the UK.
The American motorist is the most aggressive creature on earth' And then there's the politics. This car means you are aligning yourself with US policies. You're driving around saying you support the war in Iraq and the strategy in Afghanistan. Maybe you do. But I don't.
So I am now going to hell for posting this on a cycling blog? Dunno, one thing's sure as far as I'm concerned. We're all been rudely shoved into this geopolitical mess together, the Poms, Aussies & the 49% of Americans who didn't vote for Bush. So if one petrolhead comes out against neocon stupidity, I suppose it's could be read as simplistic, but potentially benefical. As for Clarkson's attitudes towards cyclists, you can take heart from the statement by Robert Hanks in The Independent, (12th June 2006)
Motorists: Cyclists are not another species - most of them drive cars at least some of the time - and they’re not, by and large, wilfully stupid or reckless. But they experience the roads differently from you … So be patient.
After all, it’s not as if getting rid of cyclists is a realistic option now - there are too many of them, and the numbers are growing all the time. And a few years down the line, as petrol gets more expensive, you might well end up as one of them yourself.
Well spring has sprung in more ways than one in Melbourne. Glorious weather to cycle to your hearts content. Or in my case, to actually return to cycling. Oh, isn't this a cycling blog, all about pedallys and wondrous people-moving devices? Well, yes. Why is one is such a ebullient mood? Simple.
For literally the first time in almost 20 years I'm virtually free of the debilitating pain that's severely impinged my quality of life. As alluded to in a previous post, the surgery was a success and I am recovering faster than expected. Brilliant. Wonderful. Spendiferous. And various other descriptive words.
For all the trivial shite the media, and unfortunately, other people, love to project onto us, happiness and peace of mind lies within. Pas besoin de grill: l'enfer, c'est les autres. Yeah, ok, I'm clumsily "waxing lyrical". But why not, huh? Experiencing the absence of pain is a bizarrely surreal thing after all the years you've overcompensated and minimised for it. Long may it last.
Now I'll ride my bike. More often.
Yaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!! ***Jumps around and does silly dance ***
"The bicycle is the most civilized conveyance known to man. Other forms of transport grow daily more nightmarish. Only the bicycle remains pure in heart." - Iris Murdoch
About
^That's me^ Believe or not
cileo is an slightly organised and irrevalent look at cycling and sustainable transport in Melbourne, Australia, overseas, and possibly all sorts of stray ephemera that gets caught in between. I adore bicycles (and kittycats), and as Wilf Lunn once uttered, "You learn something new every day if you're not careful....."
