In the news

What a fucking load of shit that article is!

Fuck me! Thats boggled my mind.

Good innit!

The article is completely useless without the actual numbers. From memory, 2005 was a year in which cycling increased substantially, much more than 2004. The actual casualty rate has been going down steadily in London. That research needs a swift reply, I would think.

I'd like to see the actual study and compare its stance to Kate Devlin's reporting

Prolific little devil - that's four pieces she's posted today...

You can't expect her to be accurate in all of them!

She likes her little quotes in her headlines too, doesn't she.

She's for the bin.

I might ask her to marry me.

Or Hadley Freeman.

I'd like to see the actual study and compare its stance to Kate Devlin's reporting

Is she currently on an anti-NHS drive to undermine Obama's healthcare reform plans?

There is no fucking way I would put my name to that article.

I might ask her to marry me.

Or Hadley Freeman.

jess cartner-morley!

She's for the bin.

Make sure it is not the recycling one.

Is she currently on an anti-NHS drive to undermine Obama's healthcare reform plans?

She's probably being employed by James "BBC is patrician" Murdoch.

jess cartner-morley!

Defo

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8237512.stm

"Russell Crowe challenged an Australian newspaper columnist to a cycle duel after she mocked a picture of him smoking and eating on a bike ride. The Gladiator star then called the paper to challenge Annette Sharp to a 12-mile (19.3km) race through the city."

...."At one point during the pair's cycle trip, Ms Sharp fell off her bike. "

I was just about to post that, great story!

From today's Times, Carol Midgely:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/carol_midgley/article6846227.ece

Weird article; it's as if the first half was written using some template and the second half she was allowed to think for herself.

The headline in the print edition was also completely different to the web one. Some good comments on it though...

Oddly the comments are more tempered than normal. I know I shouldn't do it, but I read the DM one, which was frankly a pointless waste of time.

Little cycling article in the Sunday papers (The Age) in Melbourne. Its one of those "bike tribe" ones.

"You can hardly set foot on a footpath in the inner-northern suburb without spotting a fixie wizzing by. Fixies - short for fixed-gear - are sleek, minimal cycles that have formed a subculture of their own in recent years.

Nick Mahoney, 24, runs Boski, a fashion label that also produces hand-built fixies. "Its funny how big its become in such a small amount of time. The thing about a fixie is that it allows your to do tricks, as well as the simplicity of the bike. You've got a beautiful stripped back racer-style look of the bicycle but you can also do tricks like riding backwards, doing bar-spins and a whole lot of little things like that."

Fixies are definitely a fashion item. The single, fixed gear means that theres no need for hand brakes or the messiness of multiple cogs. The stripped back design attracts a particular type of fan. "Because they are so simple its easy to customise them," says Mahoney. "The people who ride them are fashiony people or artistic, creative people, so they like to put different coloured wheels and different little things on them. Its so easy to do."

Its also harder to ride. The single gear can be daunting for cyclists who know the struggle of a steep hill, but the fixie trend is indicative of other growing bike cultures eschewing function for fashion. Not everyone wants to be a road warrior. "

...and so on.

Also just noticed the following overleaf:

"In Britain, Topshop teamed up with bike clothing label Cyclodelic to create a range of fashionable and functional cycle wear and accessories including silk headscarves, capes and bags"

"In Britain, Topshop teamed up with bike clothing label Cyclodelic to create a range of fashionable and functional cycle wear and accessories including silk headscarves, capes and bags"

Fixie riders don't get enough cape time in my opinion.

Balki

Should I wear my silk headscarf under or over my helmet?

Balki

Should I have put that question in the Ask Balki thread?

"eschewing function for fashion"

Fuck off.