Cyclists have already suffered enough needless deaths and insults this black year to last (or should have to suffer for) a lifetime.
And it’s certainly not helpful when celebrities have given cycling a bad reputation in spur-the-moment acts of mindlessness, regardless of their actions having consequences.
Lance Armstrong admitting cheating in Tour De France tournaments, to Oprah Winfrey, through doping. Andrew Mitchell, a POLITICIAN, was found guilty last November for calling Downing Street police officers “Plebs” for refusing to let him cycle through the street’s main gates. Need I say more?
Cyclists are not stuck-up (but some people are deluded into thinking this), they just want to be treated equally like every other road user, and it must be shared in the required spaces provided for all.
But I find this spur-the-moment act of mindlessness very disturbing and dangerous enough that it can easily injure or, kill.
Irritating – But will definitely hurt if it causes one to tumble
ITV have reported that a cyclist from Bromley, South-East London, believes that drawing pins were scattered across a cycle lane in a deliberate act of sabotage.
The pins could have been spray-painted to match the greyness of the road surface to make them invisible to the naked eyes of the intended victims, initially they would probably look like stones.
What seems even more worrying, is putting a “cyclists are not welcome” sign in the vicinity, just tries to stick the knife in even further. Who are they kidding?
Believe it or not, there are people who despise cycling to an extent that they resort to new-lows, and why anybody would choose to do this just baffles the mind.
To make matters even worse, the Evening Standard had reported this shocking moment of road-rage when a cyclist’s pelvis exploded when he was pushed off by another CYCLIST outside the US Embassy in Mayfair, Central London, because he was riding too slowly.
Appalling – Incident happened outside Embassy
Members from the campaign group, Stop Killing Cyclists, told The Eco Knight that the act was “disgusting” and “just awful”. Ironically, some said they were not surprised by the incident, but were confused on why the cyclist chose to behave in this fashion.
One member was willing to go the extra mile and launch a Just Giving fundraiser on Facebook for the victim’s recovery. Well, it’s nice to hear that charity is not dead.
It’s an unfortunate deterrent when a cyclist is killed, illustrated again in the wake of a French-national, named Claire Hitier-Abadie, who was knocked-off by a HGV at a junction outside Victoria Station last Friday whilst riding a Boris death-trap. All brave cyclists losing their lives needlessly must be honoured.
But it’s a smack in the face especially when cyclists resort to turning on each other unnecessarily. All arrogance and hypocrisy must be named and shamed: whether you are a celebrity or not, and cyclist or driver.
Normally the traditional steps is to stage a die-in vigil at the accident site, because it’s only natural for people wanting to pay their respects. However, depending on the accident’s location, there time lengths vary from a couple of minutes to one whole hour.
The way things are going, it’s only a matter of time before somebody decides to target these die-in vigils as well, by scattering the road with more dreaded pins, and the power of social media makes that impossible to stop.
Ouch – Saboteurs could start targeting memorials
Here is some food for thought, persistent menaces like these just adds salt to the wounds.
TheEcoKnight 