What a ridiculous thing to say!!!

[ColinJ]

It clearly doesn't apply to most people, but I can truthfully say to the "how can you possibly do such a dangerous thing" and "you'll get killed doing that" brigade that I'd have been dead 4 1/2 years ago if it wasn't for being a cyclist. (The source for that is the cardiology consultant who fixed my ticker, though he did add "more likely than not")

I've got annoyed enough with a few people to say that to them and it shuts them up quite well.

I blame excessive beer drinking and the long intervals between rides for my illness, and the walking and cycling that I had done over the previous 25 years for the strength to survive it!

A couple of the doctors in the hospital said that it was rare for somebody with clots as bad as mine to even survive, let alone be still walking (staggering?) about.

 

[02GF74]

welll he is right, but then how many peolpe die in car accidents each day or in their home? you would never get out of bed as no matter what you do, there is risk involved.

 

[skudupnorth]

I was told by a colleague at work that the tyres on my bike were dangerous because they had no tread on them and I would aquaplane in the rain. (22mm Conti Grand Prix by the way)

Bless him

Thats me knackered then ! I rode my fixie on sliks one winter and they seemed to work very well cutting through the snow !

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

Only 14 months? Cripes, not sure I can be bothered just for that

Of course, the life expectancy gain would be more if drivers weren't knocking us down.

 

[Leaway2]

Now I have to work out what I am going to do in my extra 14 months.

 

[Andrew_Culture]

welll he is right, but then how many peolpe die in car accidents each day or in their home? you would never get out of bed as no matter what you do, there is risk involved.

Septic bedsores. I cleaned a few out when I was on course to be a nurse.

 

[Globalti]

Quite apart from the improved life expectancy, it's good not to be out of breath every time you climb the stairs.

 

[Over The Hill]

Joking aside, this attitude is killing cycling.
The non cyclist sees cycling as a dangerous activity and not only do they not cycle, they stop their kids cycling too. It is rare to see kids around locally on bikes unless they are being hurded along the pavement by a parent . The only growth area is with commuting in places where car driving has become difficult.

The catch 22 is that as we take steps to make cycling safer and to keep in step with modern road use, these things then can send a message of danger to others as helmets and high viz jackets are usually worn in a place of danger.

Add to that the whole cycle path mindset which decrees we need to separate cyclists to keep them safe but then only does so on a few roads here and there and you can see where they get the idea from.

To some extent as cyclist (where I live) are such a rare sight on our roads, motorists do not have them on their radar and do not see them.

I cannot really see a way around this aside from the general discouragement of car driving which is going on anyway.

 

[SS Retro]

Sounds like jealousy to me there's a lot of people in our area who rarely go further a field than Greenodd and there idea of fun is Asda/Tesco on a Sunday!

When my wife and I go wild canoe camping in winter our colleges think were deranged, mind with the arrival of our little one at Christmas that has ceased but as soon as it warms up she will be out in the canoe and on the back of (my wifes bike ) in a little seat, and no doubt we will be labelled irresponsible too, cant wait.

 

[shouldbeinbed]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/data...auses-death-england-wales-2010#zoomed-picture

fill yer boots with mundane ways to die compared to riding a bike. you've got a 4.8% chance of orphaning them on your bike (96) just on the transport deaths (1970). you've got a 41% chance of not only orphaning them but taking them with you to paradise using the car (808).

 

[Shut Up Legs]

I think the best response would have been "We don't want to die young from living unhealthy sedentary lifestyles so we took up cycling so we could live longer"! Point out that the health benefits outweigh the risks by a significant margin - cyclists live on average 14 months longer than car drivers.

We're probably more productive on average at work, too. Think what a boost to the economy we'd have if a lot more people cycled . I feel sorry for my pot-bellied workmates, slouching in to the office bleary-eyed each morning (mid-morning for most of them). I've been overweight, and don't ever wish to repeat it.

 

[Sara_H]

Joking aside, this attitude is killing cycling.
The non cyclist sees cycling as a dangerous activity and not only do they not cycle, they stop their kids cycling too. It is rare to see kids around locally on bikes unless they are being hurded along the pavement by a parent . The only growth area is with commuting in places where car driving has become difficult.

Two fab examples of this just recently, one of my friends took the wheels off her daughters bike because she wouldn't wear a helmet. I tried to tell her about the benefits outweighing the risks etc, but it fell on deaf ears.

Then yesterday, I had to drop some documents in at my workplace, which meant riding in with my ten year old. I got drive by verbal abuse 3 times (it's only 4 miles-ish). This doesn't usually happen, so I assume that these folk were outraged by my cycling with a child.

 

[tyred]

Now I have to work out what I am going to do in my extra 14 months.

You could try and read all of Thomas Hardy's novels

 

[Sara_H]

Now I have to work out what I am going to do in my extra 14 months.

Round the world bike ride?

 

[Alex H]

I reckon the figure would be a lot higher for cyclists who tend to stick to quiet country roads.