The Age Examines the Politics of Cycling

Cycling in Australia certainly lends itself to an interesting brand of vitriol from certain quarters. The Age's Michael O'Reilly attempts to dissect the supporters and detractors in this piece at theage.com.au.

Cyclists. They’re nothing but a bunch of Green-voting, latte-sipping, inner-city trendoids with an over-developed sense of entitlement. 

That’s what you’d think if you believed much of the media coverage given to cycling in the past few years. From shock jocks to tabloid TV shows to newspaper columnists, there's always someone ready to have a go at cyclists.

Especially media organisations that favour the conservative side of politics. 

Advertisement: Story continues below

This vilification is curious, given that Australia is a nation of bicycle buyers. Last year, we bought more cycles than cars – something that’s happened every year this century. Of course, a lot of those would be kids’ bikes … but the increasing numbers of riders on the roads and the proliferation of cycling shops should tell you that cycling is, well, on a roll.

Read on.