When cyclists throw a tantrum it never gets old. And when it comes to spitting the dummy, few cyclists have tantrums as often, and as spectacularly as Ed Hore from The Australian Cycling Alliance. In case you don’t know who he is, he’s a cycling lobbyist who reckons we should make the cost of owning a car so high people will choose to use bikes instead.
Put another way, he’s got some pretty whacko ideas – and when people disagree with him he doesn’t take it very well and his notorious passive-aggressiveness shows itself again.
Back in May 2018 when the Australian petition for Compulsory Single File was on it’s way to getting 140,000 signatures, no other cycling lobbyist was as outspoken, or as agitated about the issue as Ed Hore. Convinced the world would end if cyclists were denied the right to chat to one other while riding two abreast, Ed Hore did everything he possibly could to lobby Change dot Org to remove the Petition.
Worse yet, according to the surprisingly rotund former New Zealander, if you dared to agree with Compulsory Single File, not only were you a hater, you were engaging in hate speech!
You can read more about The Petition For Compulsory Single File here.
So, when a cycling lobbyist banks so much of their reputation on fighting Compulsory Single File and then, quite randomly, slags off a pair of bike riders for riding two abreast? What are we supposed to think?
Take a moment to marvel at the hypocrisy in this post. If you’re a motorist, how loud is the groan you’re letting out right now? Look at what he’s saying…
The reasons he’s using to trash these two riders are the VERY SAME REASONS motorists use when they explain why THEY get pissed off with cyclists who ride two abreast. Apparently, it’s all about common courtesy…. does that not sound familiar?
It’s impossible to overstate the double standards we’re seeing here. And really, that is the point of this article. They say when someone finally reveals who they truly are, believe them.
Without realising it, Ed Hore is confirming something motorists have known all along. Namely, cyclists know they’re inconsiderate when they ride two abreast, and they know motorists have a point when they call for cyclists to ride single file.
But here’s the hyposcrisy – it’s OK when a fellow cyclist tells a cyclist to ride single file, but it’s not OK when a motorist does it. Publicly the cycling lobby continues to argue compulsory single file would be a direct assault on our fundamental constitutional right to have a chat while cycling.
And it gets funnier. Not only is Ed Hore pissed off, his online followers agree with him. They're also saying the exact same things car drivers say whenever the subject of single file becomes news. You can't make this up.
Finally, some bizarre Ed Hore theories on how to get more people cycling.
When cyclists start blaming each other it’s always hilarious. But it’s their double standards which take it to the next level.
For example, Ed Hore says Australians need to be more active, that we need to fight modern diseases brought on by inactivity – therefore, by extension, we need to promote cycling as an alternative to the private motor vehicle, which means we shouldn’t have traffic fines for cyclists at all.
Yes, that’s his position. There should be no fines for cyclists. Perhaps most remarkably, Ed Hore verges on being morbidly obese himself – a near perfect example of “do as I say, not as I do.”
When cyclists lose their shit about other cyclists it’s always hilarious. Ed Hore says Australians need to be more active, that we need to fight obesity and other modern diseases brought on by inactivity – therefore, by extension, we need to promote cycling as an alternative to the private motor vehicle, which means we shouldn’t have traffic fines for cyclists at all. Yes, that’s his position. There should be no fines for cyclists. Anything which promotes more bicycles on the road justifies the logic used to reach that conclusion, even when the logic is inherently false. Perhaps most remarkably of all, Ed Hore verges on being morbidly obese himself – a near perfect example of “do as I say, not as I do.”
You can read more of Ed Hore’s whacky theories on why cyclists shouldn’t get fines here, in this article about an Old Fart who reckons cyclists are copping too many fines.
