http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25366998

Cycling through the City of London to work on a dark morning recently, I was overtaken by a man in a black coat with no helmet, no lights, and listening to music through headphones, says Lucy Kellaway.

Idiot, I thought. As he disappeared into the underground parking of a large bank, I wondered – what sort of banker does a man like that make?

He got me thinking about the things we reveal about ourselves when we are on two wheels, and how useful that data could be to our bosses.

I’ve always fancied that as a group, cyclists make relatively good employees.

All of us are vaguely fit. We have the wherewithal to be reliable and punctual.

We are risk-takers and ever so slightly rebellious, which works quite well – especially in a job like journalism.

Different tribes
Only 10 minutes on a London road shows that we aren’t a group at all. Some of us are fast, some slow.

Some wear helmets, some don’t. Some break all the rules, some break none.

If employers really want to know what prospective employees are like, they should forget psychometric testing and watch them ride a bike.

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The two-wheel test also weeds out those who are not team players”

Some cyclists may protest that they are aggressive in the saddle only to become pussycats at their desks, but I don’t agree, on a bike you are close to death and so become a more intense version of your true self.

After I left the banker and proceeded to work, I saw three other cyclists showing traits that should have interested their HR departments.

The first had his right trouser leg rolled up to reveal a meaty calf.

Such resourcefulness in the absence of a clip impressed me – I’d hire him as a problem solver.

The next was a man balancing, stationary on a fixed gear bike at the lights – no one likes working with a show-off.

And then there was a woman on a baby-pink Brompton bicycle going through a red light just by St Paul’s Cathedral forcing pedestrians to step out of her way.

Clearly, it is the red light that is the richest point for data gathering. This woman comprehensively failed the job test,

Cooperation or competition?
The two-wheel test also weeds out those who are not team players.

All cyclists view cars, lorries and buses as natural enemies, but the cyclist who is hostile to his own kind, and who squeezes past others on the inside is suitable only for solitary working.

Not only does cycling show how competitive someone is, it shows how men feel about women being faster than them.

On the – increasingly rare – occasions when I overtake a man on a bike, he almost always overtakes me back at once, just to make the point.

It is not just the behaviour on the bike, it is the bike itself.

The person with the carbon racer wants to impress. The person on the hybrid just wants to get the job done.

The not terribly fit man in Lycra is all talk, no trousers.

So what does my cycling style show?

That I like being in control.

That I’m cavalier about some rules and fairly selfish, but try not to be flagrantly obnoxious.

I wear a helmet, a nasty fluorescent tabard and high heels – but to prevent any more pairs being destroyed by the pedals I have invented a heel condom made out of an old inner tube.

Which shows I can be creative – but only when really desperate.

Or is it?

In general your mode of transport has no relation to your personality, strenghts or weaknesses. Cocks will be cocks on 2 wheels, on foot or in 4 wheels. Good people the same.

The only thing that happens when people generalise is they are wrong 🙂

I also read that this morning – page-filling content-free drivel.

2 minutes of my life I won’t get back.

It’s true though…

she cycles in high heels?!

To be fair rolling his right trouser leg up is pretty resourceful, that is quite a complicated problem to solve.
What an awful article.

“Journalist” without anything interesting to write about.

There are a lot of them about, mainly in the Sunday colour supplements.

Yeah it’s a bit of bollocks. This:

on a bike you are close to death

Is a stupid thing to say. Also she starts off saying we’re all different, then says this:

All cyclists view cars, lorries and buses as natural enemies, but the cyclist who is hostile to his own kind, and who squeezes past others on the inside is suitable only for solitary working.

To play her at her own game – anyone who goes to the trouble of making heel protectors out of inner tubes whilst missing the obvious and far better solution (change of shoes) clearly isn’t perceptive enough to write a good article 🙂

Bike waffle waffle, red light waffle waffle, lycra waffle waffle.
Can I have my cheque now please?

We are risk-takers and ever so slightly rebellious, which works quite well – especially in a job like journalism.

Bollocks on every level. Most journos I’ve encountered are the craven opposite of this.

I’m sure I’ve read this article (or one very similar) earlier this year.

so not only crap, but repeated/plagiarised crap too,

Reads like a bit of observational fun to me – and it makes cyclists out to be a wide variety of real people which in my view is a good thing.

If it’s not original then by all means slag it off as lazy journalism – but this sort of piece is always going to be amusing generalisations drawn from observation… “man balancing, stationary on a fixed gear bike at the lights… show-off” seems pretty familiar from bike forums.

Makes sense on a lot of levels – I’m sure a proper analyst could do some good work on it but this is essentially just asking a question with some amateur theories thrown in for good measure.

Sure I have read that or something similar before?

Its a bit of fluff but some of it rings true.

On a bike you are a lot freer to break rules so its a better test of someone’s true nature than driving. When driving people are restricted by either fear of punishment (points fine etc) or lack of opportunity – you can’t jump the red light if the guy in front of you has decided not to. On a bike you are free to choose.

Sure I have read that or something similar before?

FT in november:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7b3bd0e4-3d62-11e3-9928-00144feab7de.html#axzz2nddTxZrB

and Road.cc:
http://road.cc/content/news/98374-does-way-you-ride-say-what-sort-employee-youd-be-lucy-kellaway-thinks-it-might

So. she thinks that condoms on her shoes will protect them from SPDs?

Bless her…;)

That is possibly the worst thing I’ve ever read, anywhere, ever.
And you chose to copy and paste it into a thread?!?
You make me SICK!