A malicious act against a cyclist in Oxford was brought to my attention last week. A student at Harris Manchester College had returned to his bicycle which he had left overnight in the Mansfield Road public racks to find some unsavoury oaf had dug a razor blade into his saddle. There are pictures on the internet showing clearly the intentions of the perpetrator as the blade is protruding out just where you plan to seat yourself upon riding.

It sends shivers down your spine that there is someone mean and mad enough to do something like that. Was it personal? Was the student picked at random as an attack on cyclists as a whole? We just don’t know. It has been a long time since I have been verbally or physically abused for being a cyclist, but scarily it happened again just last week as I was riding home from town to my abode in north Oxford. It was late and I was with friends as we cycled down and off Cornmarket making our way towards St Giles. A car behind was honking its horn like a mad man as we approached the red lights outside the Randolph. As law-abiding cyclists we stopped and waited for green. Much to our dismay the honking horn was upon us and as we turned to look behind us it revved and swerved into me purposely wanting to knock into the back of my bike. Luckily I was on my Dutch tank of a bike which can take a good blow so the only damage done was a bent mudguard and a slightly shocked cyclist.

To be attacked because of your decision to ride a bike is infuriating. Thankfully most of the haters restrict their behaviour to ranting on the internet and not in real life. However, as this prejudiced behaviour mainly goes unchallenged, it has somehow become normal conduct to hate a cyclist online. Perhaps the problem is growing because cyclists in the main are rational thinkers who feel there is no need to challenge these morons as none of them have the courage of their convictions anyway.

When it comes down to numbers, cycle haters in the real world and on the roads are not a widespread problem. Only a minority of cyclists are not also drivers and the most considerate drivers are those who also cycle so hopefully we will be okay. Defensive cycling in the UK is still very necessary however because of what I like to call our “shared space syndrome”. Even drivers would like to be segregated from cyclists as I don’t think on the whole they enjoy mowing down those on two wheels. It’s a real shame when the minority upset the cart and to now add a safety check of your saddle to the list of necessary checks of sabotage before you ride is in itself a new pain in the backside.