Moving Target,Issue #4, Summer 1989
by C.C. Brave
Summer's here again and with the start of every summer, the media crawlsout from beneath the moss to take its seasonal interest in (cc's). In conjunctionwith this seasonal influx of new riders to the circuit come articles inNewspapers, and on Radio and T.V. Few of these are constructive, in themain they exploit our trendy image, or scaremonger about us being psychopathic.
The misguided opinion that c.c's care little for life or limb, comesfrom our style of cycling. Using all parts of the road, riding faster thanthe traffic and being able to respond quickly to changing circumstancesare all characteristics. A minority ignore traffic signals which causesirritation, but it is a lot less dangerous than you might think. A feware hot heads, they usually learn the hard way.
The real culprit is the level of congestion in Central London. Everybody,car drivers, motorbikes, pedestrians, everyone is fighting for space. Inthis free for all we laughingly call a traffic system it is necessary tobe assertive whether driving a vehicle, riding a bike or simply crossingthe road. Cyclists are no different from other road users, except by beingmore vulnerable. Many have learnt that it isn't always safe to sit timidlyon the left, and that assertive riding gets you noticed. CC's, simply bythe nature of their work have been forced to adopt this style. They takethe road space they consider necessary, they anticipate, and they makepeople notice them. They appear to be dangerous simply because they movequickly, both in a straight line and when weaving. They are not; if youride dangerously the most likely person to be hurt is yourself. It's inyour own best interest to be safe.
The sheer number of hours that cc's spend on the road make them someof the most experienced city cyclists in Britain. It also means a highprofile in a media orientated city. Year after year they glamourise cc,'sinto a macho manic stereotype, all bulging cycle pants and 'Death or Glory'tatoos. Promoting this image of us is potentially dangerous. All cyclistsare vulnerable, they have neither power or protection. The last thing thatcyclists and cc's need is for motorists to justify their dangerous andoften illegal manoeuvres by thinking that we're all 'mad fuckers' anyway.I believe that the media by sensationalizing bad cycling is actually glamourizingit.
As mentioned hundreds of new riders join the circuit at this time ofyear. Many of these people are attracted by easy money and the glamour,few will be experienced cyclists. This mixture of inexperience and livingup to an image means that these new cc's will be the most vulnerable .Some of them may be injured or even killed this summer.
The media could do a more constructive job, they are right to draw attentionto problems that cc's cause but should give us the right to put our sideof the argument. Their criticism is of little use unless accompanied byconstructive ideas or solutions.
Assertive cycling isn't going to go away; it is a symptom of the cityenvironment. Rather than making it into a problem I'd like to see the mediaaddress some of the issues that affect us all. Should cycling be promotedas the 'green option' for getting around town'? If so, further provisionmust be made for the safety of cyclists. I tend to think that the prevalent'psychopathic courier' image would disappear if pedestrians used the greencross code and if every major route had a cycle lane.
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