There’s something about lycra
Posted November 27th, 2006 in The Desk
One of the sillier references seen in the latest round of media inspired heat generated by Anita Quigley’s commentary in Saturday’s Telegraph is the one made about lycra. In fact she used it in her piece.
What Critical Mass fails to realise is that we don’t want to spend our Friday night in gridlock while lycra-clad twits……
The strange thing though is that many, if not most of the CM riders avoid lycra like the plague. CM is largely about commuting, not racing, but that’s another story. Clearly Quigley and many anti-cyclist folks see lycra as some kind of signifier of sissyness or lack of masculinity.
Current dress for many cyclists is something that has evolved over decades into a fashion that is suitable for the sport, and I emphasize the word sport. You don’t need lycra to ride a bike, but if you race you do.
However using lycra to denote a lack of masculinity, which is what I think many anti-cyclist folks are attempting to do is complete nonsense. Cycling is one of those sports that is the hardest of the hard as anyone who has ever raced can attest to, it’s mad, bad and dangerous to the core.
Yesterday, world champion professional cyclist, Isaac Galvez died racing in Belgium. A couple of weeks ago Australian cyclist Paul Crake crashed and was paralysed in a race in NZ, now imagine your average cyclist commuting to work and mixing it with steel monsters driven by folks who get angry about having to make a lane change or slow down for a few seconds.
Sissies? Nope.
technorati tags: cycling, bcycles, lycra
What others have to say…
November 27th, 2006 at 10:54 pm
Oh, that is some weird symmetry. Good stuff though.
November 28th, 2006 at 9:23 am
Yeah i did (hang on, is this implying that even a dill thought she was a dill?? 
)
Her comments on lycra clad inner city noodle eaters were a little strange. Don’t people in the outer suburbs eat noodles?
More fuel for the talkback whinge fest- All heat, no light.
I love the way she tranisitions from the sociopathic- I just want to run them all down with my Range Rover- to a heart felt plea to let people get home to their loved ones on Friday evening. Priceless. No contradiction there, no way at all.
November 28th, 2006 at 10:05 am
I think Quigley’s opinion piece comes pretty close to sedition under the new anti-terror laws:
‘Urging violence within the community
(5) A person commits an offence if:
(a) the person urges a group or groups (whether distinguished by race, religion, nationality or political opinion) to use force or violence against another group or other groups (as so distinguished); and
(b) the use of the force or violence would threaten the peace, order and good government of the Commonwealth.’
Why isn’t this law being applied to thugs like Jones and Quigley who incite hatred against segments of the community?
November 28th, 2006 at 12:06 pm
I been busy again, refer to Wheels of Justice for tips on possible action you can take.
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I recently kicked off a rambling thread via aus.bicycle regarding the paradox of lycra.
Sissies? Certainly not, even when folks were wearing wool knicks & *real* deerskin chamois ..