Opinion
As you all are probably aware, a large cycling bunch was assaulted by a motorist in Sydney on Thursday Morning. The bunch of approximately 50 riders included Ben Kirsten, Graeme Brown, Michelle Ferris and Matty White.
As expected, the dodgy tabloid media has approached the incident from the wrong angle, polling readers with "Are cyclists a problem" and "Should riders be alowed to ride in packs" (the very use of the word "pack" instead of "bunch" immediately conjures images of violence). These polls reveal the bias against cyclists and cycling held by the mainstream media. A far less biased poll question would be "Is road rage out of hand on Sydney Streets?"
In the reader comments, messages supporting the riders were howled down by moronic drivers, some of whom actually attempted to discount the braking and handling capabilities of bicycles, as if they'd ever gotten off their fat ass and ridden one! One particularly nasty chap even called cyclists "tight asses" who were "too cheap to buy a car"! I'd hazard a guess that any one of the bikes involved in the incident was worth far more that the car that caused it.
