And no I’m not talking about the paint on my bike…I was riding in the Clywds (N Wales) yesterday with a friend of mine whose ethnic background is West African and it struck me that in the areas I ride, N Wales/S Lakes, almost all the riders I see are white. What makes it even more curious is that I live in Chester and work in the Liverpool/Manchester area, so there is a hugely diverse ethnic make-up on the doorstep of where I ride; so what’s going on?

MTBing is a very white middle class sport and also cycling in african, asian countries is a means of transport and not enjoyment.

So for the ethnic groups the car is king, in their own countries they are longing for cars…I guess and probably there are many other social factors that I dont know about.

And also in the country there are very little ethnic people you will find that they are all in the city, and often in deprived areas… When I gre up in N wales I never saw a black person until i was 14 years old in liverpool.!!!

in the country there are very little ethnic people

1) *Chuckle*
2) What do people mean when they say people are ‘ethnic’? Surely everyone is ethnic, it’s only the ethnicity which differs.

MTBing is a very white middle class sport and also cycling in african, asian countries is a means of transport and not enjoyment.

For most mountain bikers, cycling is neither a sport or a means of transport, it is a hobby.
Think of a hobby, any hobby, do a google images search.
What colour are the people in the background ?
Mountain biking is no different to radio control car racing, kite flying, rock climbing, wood carving, etc.

Just an observation and a curiosity, although I’m sure someone will manage to turn it in to an argument and get the thread locked.

Charlie, “ethnic” means any ethnicity other than white, just as “the environment” means any environment other than one that’s got buildings in it.

in the country there are very little ethnic people

Pigmies, gnomes, dwarves and leprechauns ?

What i mean is if you go to the countryside where there are nice little villages etc.. i bet you there are very little african people etc… when I grew up in N wales there were none!! and very little today!… go to poor inner cities and there are lots, and I ant see these people even white people going out to the country there may be the odd exception..

Charlie, “ethnic” means any ethnicity other than white

In that case, as an ‘ethnic’, I find that mildly offensive. It smacks of ‘us and them’. Another term for categorising ‘others’ regardless of the diffenerences between them. How do any other ‘ethnics’ feel?

MTqGraham…I’d guess (from your address) that you’re well placed to comment on the numbers of Visibly Ethnicly Diverse people (as I heard non-whites described on a heinous Civil Service course I had to attend once) who participate in our sport/hobby/pass-time/obsession, so your input probably has more weight and accuracy than any I could offer and you’re absolutely bang on about pictures online or in magazines. In the past few years there has been an explosion of interest in MTBing and it is certainly true that there are expotentially more women involved now then only a few years ago but I don’t recall a marketing compaign running in Vogue or Hello (which I’ve only ever glanced at in a Dentists, honestly!) so maybe things will change in time, as an aside I’ve worked all over the globe in some very underdeveloped places and I’ve found that no matter the colour of someones skin they all want to get involved in exciting activities when given the chance.

“ethnic” means any ethnicity other than white

Is this also true in Ghana? Or just the UK?

Balls.

I’m half Irish. How much of an ethnic minority do you want?

if you go to the countryside where there are nice little villages etc.. i bet you there are very little african people etc…

They keep pygmy africans people in little villages …why has no one told me of this before? Ar they like “ethnic” versions of the umpa lumpas…PC gone mad I tell thee

How do any other ‘ethnics’ feel?

“ethnic” means any ethnicity other than white

Even in Africa? Asia? Are white people now not an ethnic group? Yes I find it a relatively offensive term if used that way. Everyone belongs to some ethnic group even white people. You may want to look up the word ethnic in a dictionary.

Lol @ iDave

The clue is in the question! In GHANA, are they British?? See? simples!

They keep pygmy africans people in little villages

Obviously an intellectual pygmy Junkyard. Of course they are in little villages, otherwise they would get agoraphobic

Is this also true in Ghana? Or just the UK?

I don’t know. I was just going by the selection of foods in the “Ethnic” section in my local supermarket. Perhaps someone who has been in a Ghanan supermarket could tell us.

into de_void, yes, I live in a rural, and therefore almost exclusively white, area.
We’ve got several tourist attractions round here, including a forest, a river, a safari park, a steam railway and lots of caravan parks and I can’t help noticing that most of the summer visitors are white too.
It’s something that’s always struck me as a curiosity, although I realise that by simply mentioning an observation some people are going to jump to conclusions.

I was just going by the selection of foods in the “Ethnic” section in my local supermarket

We have stottie buns and oat cakes in the ‘ethnic’ section of my local Waitrose.

The clue is in the question!

The question being is white the new black? where’s the clue?

BTW anyone ending a post with ‘simples’ needs culling – in my ethnic opinion

Eugenicist!

Good point Charlie I really should have though of their welfare 😳

are trolls an ethnic minority ?

There is a cultural element at work.

The shop at the top of our road is run by a family who I believe are of Pakistani origin. They’re a great bunch of lads and we’ve got quite friendly. I’m invariably on my bike when I call in on the way back from work

One day one of the guys pulled me to one side, with a slightly concerned look on his face asked me why I rode a bike all the time when I had a car and was clearly not living in poverty.

When I said I just preferred it to driving into work, and did it as a hobby, he snorted with derisive laughter.

He told me that the only people who ride bikes are peasants and that as soon as you’d made some money, you would never be seen on a bike.

At that point I told him how much my bike actually cost. He again went into hysterics and point-blank refused to believe that anyone would do something so stupid as to pay that for a bike.

Actually…. he may have had a point 🙂