[bikeqld] The cyclopaths -- Spence 339: b3534 -- BMJ

[Richard Hockey]

Comment in BMJ:

http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/339/sep02_1/b3534 

The cyclopaths

Des Spence, general practitioner, Glasgow 

destwo at yahoo.co.uk

Whoosh-I flew through the air and tumbled onto the grass. The swing
wrapped itself over the frame. "Lets go home," I said, grabbing my bike.
I can't remember learning to ride a bike; I just always could. No
helmets, one kid on the seat, one pedalling, and one on the handle bars.
Choppers, Tomahawks, and racers were the playthings of the rich kids
with side partings. We rode hand me down hybrids, mongrels with
scavenged parts, no brakes, broken spokes, missing pedals, no gears, and
steel frames. These were no noble steeds but beasts that chewed our
trousers, threw us over the handle bars, or impaled us on the frame. We
disrespected them too, kicking or throwing to the ground when the chain
slipped or when a tyre punctured. Bicycles were functional and unloved
machines. 

Now, however, people are besotted with bikes. Cyclist doctors are even
more tedious than we runner doctors. Their monotone chat is of carbon
fibre front forks, titanium frames, hub gears, and gearing ratios. They
parade in multicoloured lycra and shaved legs, sporting silly tattoos
and even sillier beards. Their language is an incomprehensible dialect
of "surfer." Their twitters pollute the blogosphere with rabid
environmentalism. Research (sponsored by the government department for
totally obvious and unnecessary research) shows that cyclists are fitter
and leaner and live longer than their non-sideburned peers. So perhaps
it's time to give these benevolent peddlers of health their due-for all
said, I like them. 

I want to cycle to work. Indeed a cycling apostle even convinced me to
buy a retro single-speed bike. So why don't I grow a straggly beard and
start drinking courgette smoothies? The reason is that I am not unhinged
(brave) enough-I don't want to die just yet. Cyclists are exposed to
real threats as white vans squeeze them into the kerb, and many drivers
seem blind to their extreme vulnerability. But the paradox is that our
roads are choked with cars containing frustrated people who would cycle
if it wasn't for the threat of cars. And consider all those kids kept
captive on the school run. Why aren't cycle paths-a simple solution-core
to the government's strategy not just on global warming but also on
health? Is our political landscape so denuded that we have lost all
biodiversity in new thinking? We must produce an environment in which
even normal and sane people can cycle to work. 

Cite this as: BMJ 2009;339:b3534

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://www.bikeqld.org.au/pipermail/bikeqld/attachments/20090903/9929cc66/attachment.htm