The yawning gulf between cyclists and non-cyclists.

[Dan151]

I always thought that bikes were specifically for 'a bright young person around town', while cars are for angry chav scum, angry rich Jeremy-Clarkson-type scum, people who are too fat or otherwise unfit to cycle, or people who are too stupid to get a home close enough to work to commute by bike.

I'd love to work close to home but I'd be on half the money. Maybe if it bothered you that much that people work to far away from work that they can't cycle there, you could find everyone jobs near their homes. You could Potentially sort out Britain's employment problem......

 

[RhythMick]

Sent from my LT15i using Tapatalk 2

Beware the "signature police" ... I drew some unfriendly sneers from a member with that sig ... :-) ...

You know who you are ... :-D

 

[Moodyman]

Without trying to sound funny here, is it just a cultural thing? I mean, back in Pakistan, have his parents been able to drive him round everywhere, whilst the the poorer people he has been told to avoid ride bikes, therefore he really does associate cycling with peasants and other perceived unsavoury types who are out to do nasty things to him?
With the amount of Poverty and unbelievable wealth all in one place, there must be a much wider gulf between the haves and have nots there than here, creating a feeling among some of the middle/upper classes that they really ARE superior? Would being seen with a bike really be so below him? A social prestige thing?


Just a thought and I expect I'll be shot down in flames at any given moment. Nihal, what do you think?

I'm of South Asian descent and yes, I can affirm that cycling is seen as a peasant's mode of transport in Pakistan/India.

Even amongst the British Asian community, cycling is an exercise/leisure activity at most.

My wife, also of S Asian descent, tells all her friends that I catch a train to work. She daren't tell them I cycle.

When people (other Asians) find out that I cycle, they always ask why? They can't understand that someone in a white collar, well remunerated job would cycle to work when he has a car at home.

 

[lulubel]

Can you give me a mortgage then, none of the banks will, or perhaps the fact that i got off my arse and found a job makes me stupid. Perhaps i should go back on the dole until a local job comes along. Some of us have to commute, I dont like it, and have applied for many local jobs without success.

You don't have to get a mortgage to move home. I know renting isn't socially acceptable in a lot of circles, but the freedom it gives you has to be experienced to be appreciated, I think.

 

[defy-one]

You don't have to get a mortgage to move home. I know renting isn't socially acceptable in a lot of circles, but the freedom it gives you has to be experienced to be appreciated, I think.

Another Asian thought - we prefer to own our own houses!

 

[Linford]

... and what is wrong with a tandem?

Nothing if you are well into your 50's and past caring about street cred

 

[lulubel]

Another Asian thought - we prefer to own our own houses!

So do most British people, which was kind of my point. My father spent years trying to convince me to buy a house with a mortgage and "settle down" rather than renting, which he considers to be throwing money away. But renting has given me the freedom to just up and go at short notice whenever I want to, and to live in places (Spain, for example) that I wouldn't have been able to otherwise.

It also meant I could go where the work was, back when that was important to me.

 

[Boris Bajic]

I always thought that bikes were specifically for 'a bright young person around town', while cars are for angry chav scum, angry rich Jeremy-Clarkson-type scum, people who are too fat or otherwise unfit to cycle, or people who are too stupid to get a home close enough to work to commute by bike.

Do I recall you mentioning that your wife drives a car?

I'm sure she'd be keen to know which of your stereotypes you think fits her best.

 

[Smokin Joe]

Some of the comments posted here could turn me into a cyclist hater too.

 

[ColinJ]

Some of the comments posted here could turn me into a cyclist hater too.

Just wait until they start talking about people who smoke in their cars ...!

 

[Peteaud]

Just wait until they start talking about people who smoke in their cars ...!

Or just smokers

 

[Boris Bajic]

Just wait until they start talking about people who smoke in their cars ...!

Smoking in Cars is the new Driving while Smoking.

Or it will be when the people who drive cars and smoke stop doing the last thing that used to be the old Driving while Smoking, which was pretending to know about WMD you didn't know about and indeed knew not to be a threat in the way you pretended to believe you thought it might very well be.

I think the key thing here is to distill, trim and edit the message in such a way that it rolls off the tongue.

I'll get my coat.

Again.

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

So do most British people, which was kind of my point. My father spent years trying to convince me to buy a house with a mortgage and "settle down" rather than renting, which he considers to be throwing money away. But renting has given me the freedom to just up and go at short notice whenever I want to, and to live in places (Spain, for example) that I wouldn't have been able to otherwise.

It also meant I could go where the work was, back when that was important to me.

A bit different, but apparently in Italy hardly anyone actually owns their own house, everything is rented. That'll be why half of Italy looks like a dump then.....



I'll get me coat and run before Pat sees this.

 

[lulubel]

A bit different, but apparently in Italy hardly anyone actually owns their own house, everything is rented. That'll be why half of Italy looks like a dump then..... .

Does it? Probably no more of a dump than some of the areas in the UK that I looked at when I was looking at buying. Before I realised I could get a lot more house for my money and live in a much more salubrious area by renting instead.

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

Does it? Probably no more of a dump than some of the areas in the UK that I looked at when I was looking at buying. Before I realised I could get a lot more house for my money and live in a much more salubrious area by renting instead.

Italy just looks run down, everything is so old looking!.... Actually, cross over the border from Switzerland or Austria and you can just about see the point on the border where the buildings change..... and the graffiti appears too.