From the Daily Mail's Bike Blog
Wed, December 9, 2009 
The above picture is from the Daily Mail’s online Bike Blog. (I am being facetious of course.)
This British daily publication, for whatever reason, seems intent on perpetuating an ongoing anti-cyclist campaign.
When they can’t find real cases of cyclists behaving badly, they go out and create a situation like this one.
They make a big deal out of the fact that the cyclist is riding in the wrong direction, even though the bike lane is clearly marked for opposing travel.
Think about it; there is a photographer standing in the left lane taking this picture, forcing the cyclist into the opposing lane in order to ride around him.
It is an artificially staged situation; there is no other cyclist is sight, so no harm, no foul; why all the fuss?
There is something British cyclists can do about the Daily Mail spewing out all this anti-cycling sentiment; write to the Press Complaints Commission.
Word your complaint briefly and intelligently. If complaints come in from enough people over a period of time, the Daily Mail could be called on to cease this rather stupid campaign.
Reader Comments (6)
I don't share your faith in the PCC, Dave. They found Matthew Parris's article suggesting cyclists should be beheaded with piano wire and James Martin's celebration of his car-borne assault on a group of cyclists perfectly acceptable to their code of conduct. I will write (and ask others to do so), but I doubt the PCC will act. Best wishes, Lance
Its a real shame - I'm embarrassed that I work under the same umbrella as DMGT and am a cyclist - who gets his bike from them through the great Cycle 2 Work scheme.
The Daily Mail needs to bear responsibility for many ill conceived ideas in the UK. They love nothing more than to victimise minorities of any kind and play on the fears of the middle classes. They supported Moselys Black shirts and deny that nowadays, being insulted by them as cyclists makes me almost proud as at least we've managed to annoy the bigots!
The Mail picked it up (via an agency snapper and the SE1 Twitter news feed) from a post on my blog. I'm surprised the snapper managed to get a bike at all on it - I waited for ages and never saw a cyclist apart from me. It was chucking it down, though!
The signage on the road/signs are also wrong, and the cyclist could easily be following the road signs, rather than the painted road markings. The signs on the posts say it's a segregated shared use path, so the pedestrians on the left, bikes on the right. However the painting on the road is completely different of course, indicating a contraflow cycling situation.
Hi Dave, My take is he is an American (Yank to you Brits) like me and he's had a few pints ! (Laughs)! He's just used to riding on the "other" side of the road.Too bad the folks there have this type of harassment. I find it facinating how well marked this path is. "Someone" paid plenty of money for all the markings and such. I live on Los Angeles' west side and the "Beach" bike path that runs along the beach from Santa Monica south to Redondo Beach (roughly 15 miles)
has a universal paint marking of a cyclist and clearly marked "bikes only" about every 300 yards or so. But, shaters, joggers (some with strollers), walkers and every one else uses the "bike path" for their personal use. The police NEVER cite anyone for usuing the path even though it's clearly marked "bikes only." I don't have a problem with other users provided they stay off to the side out of the flow of bike traffic. But this is not the case.The worst offenders are runners / joggers. They will at times run in groups abreast totally blocking the bike path and when confronted, (even politely), take offense and even get so uptight to start a pissing duel as to their God given right to use the bike path as they see fit. I don't ride on the bike path unless I'm on my "cruiser" just people watching.It 's way too dangerous for anyone who wants to ride faster than a snails pace. I feel the best way to combat the negative press and / or public opinion that we get is to turn it into a positive. Try to ride intelligently and always bear in mind the laws. Be respectful of all others who may be affected by your riding. We all make mistakes and I must admit I still do break the law (albiet at 4:30am on my morning commute), but if you admit your mistakes,apologize, wave to other road users, and say "Thank you" it goes miles more than swearing, yelling and flipping your middle finger at others. You just have to remember that many people are too caught up in themselves and could give a rats ass about you or anyone else. They aren't singling out cyclist's. They are ignorant to everyone. Do they need to learn manners and be respectful of others? Yes ! Will they ever learn? Who knows? That "Daily Mail" publication is probably really hurting for readers so they will take any means necessary to grab some attention from people. The press is just as bad here in the States. They have nothing positve to say, so they make negative news stories up to get people angry. This is just a lack of intelligent thinking. The press is mostly a bunch of "Dumb Asses" trying to keep themselves employed. Be kind to others and you will get much further.