Australian Cycling Forums - Bicycles Network Australia

roller wrote:Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi yesterday sparked outrage after he called for the common cycling clothing to be banned following an earlier close shave on a Sydney bike path by a lycra clad man.

RonK wrote:Fancy quoting Bernardi about anything. The man has zero credibility, and is such an embarrassment to his own political party that they had to give him the boot.

Um it would appear that you may have missed roller's humour - the quote from Bernardi was altered using the text of an article about remarks from the aforementioned clown in relation to banning the burqa.

find_bruce wrote:

roller wrote:Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi yesterday sparked outrage after he called for the common cycling clothing to be banned following an earlier close shave on a Sydney bike path by a lycra clad man.

RonK wrote:Fancy quoting Bernardi about anything. The man has zero credibility, and is such an embarrassment to his own political party that they had to give him the boot.

Um it would appear that you may have missed roller's humour - the quote from Bernardi was altered using the text of an article about remarks from the aforementioned clown in relation to banning the burqa.

Well, that was a wasted effort. I wouldn't (and didn't) bother to read anything attributed to Bernardi

I've been buzzed at an uncomfortable proximity by mTB riders a number of times on ate,s and they are invariably wearing Lycra and are alone, so I can see where she is coming from. It's at odds with how I ride a path.
Th brolly idea struck me as passive protection, maybe to encourage a metre separation, at least, cos I've heard that a metre matters.

Daccordi Rider wrote:

human909 wrote:

Daccordi Rider wrote:Cycling is held back by our society being fat and lazy, if the best excuse they can come up with is that some people wear lycra or that the government wants you to protect your head then their heart really is not in it. Excuses are easy.

When something is fun, enjoyable and easy people don't look for excuses. Unfortunately cycling is not portrayed to be easy in this country.

Now you are starting to blame people for being lazy for not cycling. This is PRECISELY the problem! The attitude that cycling is an effort!

I'm not entirely sure if you are being sacastic with that last comment or not. Either way is fine . For lots of people cycling 2km to a shop is far more effort than they are prepared to make in an average day, sad but true. You know the people who stand still on travelators and escalators, don't use stairs to go up 1 level, that sort of thing. They will probably never get it.

Exactly. Hence the number of seemingly fit youngish people riding motorised cycles and scooters.

I'd love cycle-only paths but they don't work either. I occasionally ride around the iron cove bay in Sydney on the shared path and there are a few fairly long stretches of separated path that are clearly marked pedestrian only and bicycle only. I've encountered so many pedestrians walking all over the place on both paths that it's not even worth commenting on any more (never see bicycles on the pedestrian only path though).

I also ride the cooks river cycleway to and from work regularly, note that I almost exclusively wear lycra when on my bicycle because it's much more comfortable when you're hot and sweaty than ordinary clothes...
Every morning at about the same times I pass the same walking groups, often 5 or more people walking in a big cluster across both sides of the path however they're not usually a problem because they see me coming and move. There are always the people with headphones walking in the middle of the path unable to hear you, and I find that people walking with prams two abreast across the path will generally not move for you unless you really push the issue...

Overall I hardly have any issues riding on shared paths at pretty decent speeds and I don't notice anybody else having an issue with me, I even sometimes get thankyous from people I pass whom I alert by calling out if I'm coming from behind and they're blocking both sides. I disagree that shared paths aren't the place for fast riding, they definitely can be if the conditions are right (low pedestrian traffic, good line of sight, wide clean path etc) but there are certainly times where I wouldn't go much over 25 kph like nice sunny weekend afternoons.

Cycling can be as easy or hard as you wish it to be.

[quote="g-boaf"]. Fear of lycra is just a lazy cop-out, /quote]

It is beginning to look more like a divisive way to frame a point of view. Insulting other members, with remarks like that have the intent to offend, without doubt.
These types of attacks, on supposedly other members of a community promoting cycling, are a blatant attempt to get applause from your own peers, but are without merit and divisive.
It has been stated by others, that there is an undeniable perception that there is a nasty element among the Lycra wearing cyclists. That perception is nowhere more evident than in the mindset of such posts.
This whole thread is not about whether Lycra is good or bad, but rather the perception of the person quoted in the OP, and that person’s view of the character of some of the wearers of the Lycra being the less sensitive of riders in her eyes.
I don’t really care one way or the other what others wear, but there is a public downside to wearing of the full kit, and that’s how the general public sees the issue. If you don’t believe that, consider who coined the phrase “LYCRA LOUTS”. It was certainly not the cycling public.
If that offends you, why are you doing your best to offend members of the cycling fraternity.
Whilst I know nothing of Lycra, if my wearing of it is necessary to show that I am not a "lazy, fearful cop out" is to me offensive and unnecessary.

Me thinks G-boafs observation was targeted at the non-cycling general public who will choose to run in short shorts/skins etc, not those already part of the cycling fraternity who choose not to wear lycra.

If riders clad in lycra on road bikes are riding on shared paths heavily populated by pedestrians fast enough to cause harm to them, they belong on the road.

I'm talking about the general public, not people already here. I shall comment no further.

I find the non lycra riders to be more scary. They tend to be knackered constantly, or shifty types (I live in a less than wealthy area ) and as such, present more fear because they lack control of their vehicle.

I've been starting much earlier at work this week and there are truckloads of lycra bunch riders out there early in the morning. I think the walkers sharing the paths early in the morning need to use common sense and adapt to the situation. Maybe they could encourage their friends to drive more safely during the rest of the day so the lycra bunch riders wouldn't have to dominate the paths so much.

Worth noting that all this talk of busy paths just doesn't exist after 9am. There is almost no one on the road or the path by midmorning.

Mrfenejeans wrote:If riders clad in lycra on road bikes are riding on shared paths heavily populated by pedestrians fast enough to cause harm to them, they belong on the road.

In theory that is great. However the fact is many of these paths are promoted primarily as BIKE paths and principle commuting routes. You can't advertise something as a bike highway and then complaining about it being so!

Take the Main Yarra Trail. This is a "shared path" that is bike highway at 8:30, so much so that it can even be difficult to cross! I have little doubt that pedestrians on this path during these times would feel not too dissimilar to how cyclists feel on major roads in traffic. Ie; Uncomfortable with the high speed traffic and needing to stay very alert to stay safe. When you consider it in this perspective it is a little unnerving that cyclists are "guilty" as motorists of intimidation.

A little consideration will go a long way from all those involved. Cyclists, pedestrians and motorists.

g-boaf wrote:I'm talking about the general public, not people already here. I shall comment no further.

Hi g-boaf, Sorry to upset you,no malice intended.