Is cycling the new golf?

[FairwayDodger]

The Lions won that year with their series victory over Australia so either team is a valid winner.

This year the Ladies England Rugby team won - so that's showing no issues with Ladies winning

Not denigrating anyone by that comment. I thought winning the Solheim was a much bigger achievement but that's obviously shaped by my position as a golf-obsessed female! Only posted because you asked! And intended to be light-hearted!

Anyway, I hate rugby.......

 

[Foxholer]

These paths are mostly purpose built and relatively smooth and free from obstructions - I know coz I've used them!
Surely anything that separates cars and bikes has to be a good thing?
I can't get my head round why people would rather risk being slaughtered by a car or lorry than having to use a purpose built cycle path...

As a considerable, and (I believe) considerate, user of bicycle and cycle lanes, I can assure you that they are rarely purpose built, nor ideal for cyclists in my neck of the woods! They are predominately simply a line painted a yard or so from the edge of the road or send the cyclist onto footpath, which is divided to be foot of cycle traffic. Neither is really appropriate for cyclists - and they almost always simply stop unexpectedly!

The Central vs Local government was not pedantry either. Central Government HAS made money available, but Local Government is often only half-hearted about committing to properly implementing the lanes. So they tend to be poorly located and maintained with little effort to address any safety issues for any users - cyclists, pedestrians or vehicles!

 

[NorfolkShaun]

These paths are mostly purpose built and relatively smooth and free from obstructions - I know coz I've used them!
Surely anything that separates cars and bikes has to be a good thing?
I can't get my head round why people would rather risk being slaughtered by a car or lorry than having to use a purpose built cycle path...

We have problems round here with cyclists not using cycle paths.

I can think of quite a few areas round here on busy roads where there is a perfectly good tarmacked cycle path next to a road and the Lycra brigade insist on riding down the road instead. OK maybe it is quicker for them on the road but is that two minutes (often i'm sure much less) worth spending a few weeks in hospital or worse when trimmed out by a motorist.

I know car / lorry drivers are far from perfect but nor are cyclists especially the ones for whom red lights appear not to count.

 

[patricks148]

Its strange that you think the roads up your neck of the woods are dangerous, I have just had a few days up at Inverness and on the black isle cycling and the cars and trucks gave us some considerable space, I didn't feel uneasy at all. The black ice on the run into Fortrose however

its been 8 years since i was last on a road bike. I was working for VIsit Scotland in Carrbridge and decided to cycle to work each day. Now i had some experence of Cycling on Dual carrideways down in England doing 10 and 25 mile Time trials on the A1 and the A5, never had any issues.

It put me off completely i was almost run over By a lorry coming out of Inverness tghe first time out. and had quite a few other near misses, one being a white van s wing mirror grazed my helmet and left a black streak along the top of it, was only inches away from taking me out. there have also been other incidents one being, i was on a quite road up the back of Strathglass, when two herberts in souped up Corsa's were racing each other with one of them on the wrong side of the road.

That was enough, steer well clear of the roads now.

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

We have problems round here with cyclists not using cycle paths.

I can think of quite a few areas round here on busy roads where there is a perfectly good tarmacked cycle path next to a road and the Lycra brigade insist on riding down the road instead. OK maybe it is quicker for them on the road but is that two minutes (often i'm sure much less) worth spending a few weeks in hospital or worse when trimmed out by a motorist.

I know car / lorry drivers are far from perfect but nor are cyclists especially the ones for whom red lights appear not to count.

I think it is important to differentiate between 'cyclists' and 'cycle users'.

I'm a 'cyclist', I ride for fitness and recreation as opposed to a 'cycle user' who occasionally gets on a bike and thinks it is OK to do what they want. When I'm out trying to maintain 15+ mph over 20/30/50 miles it is very difficult trying to do that on cyclepaths due to the way they are routed and the foot traffic on a lot of them. This is why we use roads (in the correct manner).

 

[bluewolf]

I think it is important to differentiate between 'cyclists' and 'cycle users'.

I'm a 'cyclist', I ride for fitness and recreation as opposed to a 'cycle user' who occasionally gets on a bike and thinks it is OK to do what they want. When I'm out trying to maintain 15+ mph over 20/30/50 miles it is very difficult trying to do that on cyclepaths due to the way they are routed and the foot traffic on a lot of them. This is why we use roads (in the correct manner).

It should also be pointed out that due to the fact that some cycle paths arbitrarily end several hundred yards from the nearest junction. This means that the cyclist has to either stop and try to re-integrate with traffic, or slow down and attempt to judge when a gap in traffic will arrive.. I prefer to stay on the road to maintain a decent speed...

 

[NorfolkShaun]

I understand some cycle paths are poorly designed but some are not and are still not used.

The route to my workplace is one good example, the road is unlit and no better than a country lane. There are some people who cycle down this road with long queues of cars etc. stuck behind them unable to pass. People then get impenitent and try to pass where there is not a gap.

This is clearly people cycling to work, there is a cycle path on a slightly different route that gets you to the same destination yet these people still use the road, why? the cycle path would take under five minutes more.

I cycle to work (fair weather cyclist) I take a route that avoids busy roads where possible and utilities quite a few cycle paths that make the route slightly shorter but with lots of turns etc. the opposite route is down the county lane / busy roads, I would always avoid busy / narrow roads where possible it is just common scene.

 

[SaintHacker]

I think it is important to differentiate between 'cyclists' and 'cycle users'.

I'm a 'cyclist', I ride for fitness and recreation as opposed to a 'cycle user' who occasionally gets on a bike and thinks it is OK to do what they want. When I'm out trying to maintain 15+ mph over 20/30/50 miles it is very difficult trying to do that on cyclepaths due to the way they are routed and the foot traffic on a lot of them. This is why we use roads (in the correct manner).

The other issue is that most 'purpose built cycle paths' actually double up as pavements, so its actually safer for a 'serious' cyclist to stay on the road due to the amount of pedestrians, dogs etc using the cycle path to walk on. A cyclist travelling at 20+mph can do a walker a hell of a lot of damage.

 

[patricks148]

The other issue is that most 'purpose built cycle paths' actually double up as pavements, so its actually safer for a 'serious' cyclist to stay on the road due to the amount of pedestrians, dogs etc using the cycle path to walk on. A cyclist travelling at 20+mph can do a walker a hell of a lot of damage.

Not to mention the damage a car at 60 can do to a cyclist

 

[muttleee]

With regard to the integrity of SPOTY, the thing I can't understand is why the bookies had Rory at 5 to 1 on to win and yet he was still convincingly beaten. They're not usually so far off the mark. I wonder how they arrived at those odds?

 

[FairwayDodger]

With regard to the integrity of SPOTY, the thing I can't understand is why the bookies had Rory at 5 to 1 on to win and yet he was still convincingly beaten. They're not usually so far off the mark. I wonder how they arrived at those odds?

My guess is that they were caught out by sincerely comparing the sporting achievements of Rory and Lewis and lost sight of the fact that it's just a popularity contest. Next year they'd be better advised to take their sports analysts off it and get the "I'm a Celeb" guys to set the odds.

 

[bobmac]

Maybe Rory should get a couple of carats for his ears

 

[Rooter]

Next year they'd be better advised to take their sports analysts off it and get the "I'm a Celeb" guys to set the odds.

Hopefully not the ones that had Jimmy Bullard as a dead cert favorite, then they moved on to Jake.

By making someone like Rory the favorite, they knew people would lump on him, a fav NOT winning is the bookies dream. I would imagine that every bookmaker in the land would like to have Lewis Hamilton at their Xmas party! from an outsiders perspective, lewis was always going to win from the moment he crossed the finish line in Dubai.

 

[MJBett]

I think the choice of the "headline" pictures pretty much shows the point they were trying to make..

But that's what stories are for right? For a new perspective to be sold - I mean, before reading this article, had you ever even made this comparison between cycling and golf?

IMO, it's just not the same. Golf :thup:

 

[Waitforme]

Who won spoty depends on what it stands for, great achievements from both first and second places.
But , if Lewis had been driving a force India and Rory playing Dunlop clubs the the outcome may have been different , Rory would still have won two majors but lewis would have been lucky to finish in the top ten !

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Who won spoty depends on what it stands for, great achievements from both first and second places.
But , if Lewis had been driving a force India and Rory playing Dunlop clubs the the outcome may have been different , Rory would still have won two majors but lewis would have been lucky to finish in the top ten !

Not sure the branding had anything to do with it and it was more a case of Hamilton's success being more in the public consciousness being only a few weeks ago and the fact that F1 does feature on BBC, certainly more than golf does

 

[muttleee]

I think the point was that Hamilton wouldn't have had any success to celebrate if he'd been in a different car.

 

[backwoodsman]

Back to the original theme...
Cycling may indeed be the new golf. Or golf may be the new cycling. This from our own GM http://www.back9network.com/article...outbrain&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=gear-rss

 

[USER1999]

Who won spoty depends on what it stands for, great achievements from both first and second places.
But , if Lewis had been driving a force India and Rory playing Dunlop clubs the the outcome may have been different , Rory would still have won two majors but lewis would have been lucky to finish in the top ten !

Strangely, in F1, the best drivers tend to gravitate towards the best cars. They kind of go hand in hand. It has always been so.
There are probably only 4 drivers capable of winning a world championship, and oddly, they all drive decent cars.
It probably helps that the teams that spend the most, end up with the best cars and drivers. It's not a very egalitarian sport, but then few sports are.

 

[BubbaP]

Back to the original theme...
Cycling may indeed be the new golf. Or golf may be the new cycling. This from our own GM http://www.back9network.com/article...outbrain&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=gear-rss

I guess for those resort style courses where a buggy is generally needed to cover the distances between holes there may be a market for this. A bind transferring you stuff to the bag though and plenty opportunity for a unattended topple over I expect.