Is cycling an important sport?

[avecReynolds531]

As was discussed in another CC thread about living overseas, a reverence for cycling as a sport/ bike racing (& it's history) within a country, can be beneficial more widely in culture & health.

A part of that is how you're treated as a cyclist - outside of pinning a number on: in our experience we've witnessed good infrastructure, tolerance, kindness & patience, no hassle with accomodation on tour, & an understanding of people using bikes as everyday transport. A win win.

... and to revisit - it brings a smile to your face when classical radio give out live race updates

 

[matticus]

Your, ahem, spell checker is not set to UK English.

I believe you are correct sir.
(although I believe the space in "spell checker" is optional.)

 

[BigMeatball]

I think there's a word missing from that or something else wrong, isn't there? Or maybe I've lost the ability to read and it's time to end this coffee break!

yes, ther's a verb missing

 

[Drago]

Disagree there, but this is getting down to needless pedantry. "Is cycling an important sport" is clearly referring to cycling as a sport. The word sport implies this.

Aha! Using needless pedantry decry someone elses needless pedantry...

 

[gavroche]

Are you sure? "On the continent"? Like in every nation?

I can guarantee that in more than a couple of major European nations cycling is as far as the top of the list as you can imagine.

Utter generalisation.

France, Belgium and Holland are probably the top three nations in Europe for cycling. ( Not necessarily in that order.)

 

[mjr]

France, Belgium and Holland are probably the top three nations in Europe for cycling. ( Not necessarily in that order.)

You appear to have misspelt Denmark "France" there.

 

[dan_bo]

Did violence go up when sports stopped because of the lockdown ?

Anyone liable to attack people because the footy stops needs locking up.

Most spectators would also benefit from some exercise. Watching sport isn't enough.

What the frig are you talking about

 

[gavroche]

You appear to have misspelt Denmark "France" there.

You appear to have forgotten your geography.

 

[Once a Wheeler]

I think it always has been an important sport in the UK. The greatest evidence for this was the leap from international obscurity to world domination once proper Lottery funding gave it the opportunity. Such a stellar rise was only possible because there was enormous strength in depth in the sport in Britain: a network of clubs nationwide and a vibrant sporting scene which had no international profile because it was skewed towards time-trialling. Only the odd Burton, Harris or Simpson gained international status. Many a club has always had whole families out on Sunday club-runs and a packed calendar of evening events, summer tours and the like: this was the foundation on which 21st-century British cycle sport was quickly built. Up to then, for non-cyclists and for the media, cycling was largely invisible.

What I would be interested in finding out on CC is how the sport got sent under cover in the UK. I have heard tales of the original Cycle Racing on the Highways act being drafted in the late 19th century under the shadow of some freakish accident between a cyclist and a pedestrian. Similarly, tales of a plan to ban cycle racing altogether. Was it this that lead to decades of dawn time-trials ridden by inconspicuous people in black alpacas? Please provide any references to cycling history books, stories of grandparents and beyond and other information that tells the story. The question is not so much 'Is cycling important?' as 'How did such a popular activity get hidden and sidelined for so long?'

 

[mjr]

What I would be interested in finding out on CC is how the sport got sent under cover in the UK. I have heard tales of the original Cycle Racing on the Highways act being drafted in the late 19th century under the shadow of some freakish accident between a cyclist and a pedestrian. Similarly, tales of a plan to ban cycle racing altogether. Was it this that lead to decades of dawn time-trials ridden by inconspicuous people in black alpacas? Please provide any references to cycling history books, stories of grandparents and beyond and other information that tells the story. The question is not so much 'Is cycling important?' as 'How did such a popular activity get hidden and sidelined for so long?'

I've not heard of the freakish accident theory, but the story I'd heard of police assaulting early racing cyclists is repeated on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cycling_Time_Trials#Early_history_of_UK_time_trialling quoting "Alpaca to Skinsuit" by Bernard Thompson.

 

[BigMeatball]

I think it always has been an important sport in the UK.

Everyone who is passionate about something tends to be biased and largely overestimates how important the discipline they're passionate about actually is.

Obviously uk cyclists tend to agree that cycling is indeed an important sport in the uk.
Same thing for uk ping pong players.

 

[hatler]

Aha! Using needless pedantry decry someone elses needless pedantry...

And where oh where is the apostrophe ?? :-)

 

[Once a Wheeler]

Everyone who is passionate about something tends to be biased and largely overestimates how important the discipline they're passionate about actually is.

Obviously uk cyclists tend to agree that cycling is indeed an important sport in the uk.
Same thing for uk ping pong players.

Passion leading to bias is naturally very true. Even so, I do not know of any other sport in the UK which had such a large network of active clubs in the 20th century with such a low public profile.

Strangely enough, ping-pong is a sport with a different but equally fascinating tale to tell in the UK. For an enthralling read, get a copy of this:
https://www.waterstones.com/book/bounce/matthew-syed/9780007350544
The lesson goes way beyond ping-pong and is relevant to all sports. Enjoy the Bounce.

 

[Ian H]

This is an interesting read: http://davesbikeblog.squarespace.co...y-of-british-cycle-racing-part-i-the-ban.html

To take it on from where Moulton leaves off, google 'Percy Stallard'. Incredibly, grudges are still held, and aired, by some (elderly) cyclists to this day.

 

[snorri]

Obviously uk cyclists tend to agree that cycling is indeed an important sport in the uk.

I do wonder about that!