I think the probelm...
is that a lot of cyclists think that rolling one leg of their skinny jeans up whilst they ride their fixie somehow acts as both a suit of armour to protect them from drivers that *can't* see them as they squeeze up the inside of lorries that are turning left and that it means they are somehow elevated above the law and common courtesy by dint of spending more on their bike than I did on my first car.

Not *all* cyclists are twats, but a significant percentage in city centres are, as they feel they can piss on everyone else from their moral high ground and then bitch about getting flak when they plough through zebra crossings because they took the brakes off their bike because it's trendy to do so.

I rode a bike every day as a kid and obeyed the highway code and the lessons of my cycling proficiency as I a) am not a cunt and b) wanted to live past the end of the week.

The level of arrogance seen displayed by most (and again, I am not saying *all) commuter cyclists in London is mind-boggling - from cuttin up pedestrians, riding the wrong way up the road, not using signals, riding whilst wearing headphones, riding a bike with no brakes (technically a fixie is not fit for road use and the Police could have a go at you unless you have the skill of Chris Hoy), dodging between cars at busy junctions and creeping up the inside of buses, etc, at junctions. The latter I don't mind to much, as only an idiot doesn't realise that a driver 6 foot off the ground won't see them and that lorries and buses will swing to the right *before* they swing left, in order to make their way round a tight left-hand corner. Generally, I consider most deaths of cyclists in London a case of Darwinian evolution for these reasons.

I love my bikes and I have ridden considerately for something like 27 years and will continue to do so. A twat is a twat, regardless of mode of transport - give one of those fixie-riding idiots a motorcycle and they'll just do the same, but at 90MPH.
(Chad, Mon 26 Sep 2011, 17:33, Reply)