Cycling dystopia

Another non-running day, for reasons of resistance-training, or turf shifting to be more precise.

Spiegel International carried an interesting series of articles (ref), describing the increasing aggression of cyclists in Germany as they fight for a share of very limited space on the roads. This is particularly disappointing because Germany has long been one of the exemplars of intelligently planned cycle routes and mutual respect between motorists, cyclists & pedestrians, unlike for example the UK, where provision has always been bad and aggression a necessary survival tactic.

Cycling is rightly being seen more and more as not only healthy (if collisions can be avoided) but clean and sustainable, and the challenge to the supremacy of motor vehicles is long overdue. A review of road protocols, perhaps backed up with mandatory cycling licences, and improved separation of road users would seem to be the best way to resolve the current conflicts between the two modes of transport. However the root of the problem is almost certainly the growing density of traffic on the roads, and the parallel growth of defensive/aggressive selfishness as not only cyclists but more & more road users of all kinds travel around in what appears to be an impregnable bubble which cuts them off from the needs of those around them. A cycling utopia is a seductive vision but still a long way from reality.