Top Gear have just televised the most idiotic, disrespectful and frightening article about cycling. Instead of dealing properly with cycling safety, acknowledging the unacceptable numbers of deaths on UK roads and attempting some constructive comment they turned out a supposedly amusing piece which was of zero value. The fact they can do so in full knowledge that people have died on the roads they cycled says a lot about them as individuals – appalling. I’m just adding this in the hope that anyone who didn’t see any of it checks it out on the iplayer and then feels sufficiently p****ed off about it to complain to the BBC / Ofcom.

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/peee-essss-ayyyyy-top-gear-this-sunday-jezzer-rides-a-bike-this-week/page/2#post-5820246

And your surprised by this?
It’s Top Gear
It’s Clarkson

That Porsche looks good though 😉

Great fun, got a few laughs out me.

Lighten up.

Andy

Here’s an idea, for a proggy that feeds on ratings to justify its existence, if you don’t like it then stop watching it.

TV troll wins!!

I thought the films they made were kinda funny.

proggy that feeds on ratings to justify its existence

Doesn’t that describe every single programme ever, in the history of television?

Liked the Porsche 918 bit. Cycling bit was just what I expected it to be, Jeremy babbling on about cyclists. And the rest of the show, much like the the rest of this series, was just guff.

They still joke about lorry drivers killing prostitutes

Which can occasionally be funny

I chuckled, quite a bit.

Watching it now. No more, no less than I expected. Apart from Christ on a bike. I smiled at that bit.

Anyway, if you get worked up about this, may I respectfully suggest you are better off not leaving your house. Ever?

@tmb467

not if the prozzies are on bikes

Surprised Boardman took part TBH…..

It’s a comedy programme, made by idiots, for idiots. What did you expect?

I laughed.

Found it funny aswell. Loved the red wire / green wire film

And if they’d driven a car on a road where someone died (which they’ve surely done)?

mikey74 – Member
proggy that feeds on ratings to justify its existence
Doesn’t that describe every single programme ever, in the history of television?[/Quote]

That was the point.

Can I ride my bike on a road or a path where someone has died? Just want to make sure it’s ok, hate to upset anyone so sensitive

Oi Manderson, I bet you complain about Friday Kylie posts, lighten up, it’s meant to be amusing.

Thought the Armstrong poster was funny, probably laughed a little too much. Other than that one, pretty much expected outcome.

On balance I though it was actually very pro bike.

What would you rather, Top Gear raising the profile of cyclists, or nowt ?

Well I felt the irony and I’m sure Boardman did too.

918 looked ace.

1800 or so folk died in vehicle accidents last year on our roads, i don’t see a fuss being made about that on the program?. It’s an entertainment show, not a vehicle (ta-boom-tish) for raising public awareness with regard to cyclists.

The cycling part? I thought it was pretty funny and they genuinely got out and cycled. They found buses dangerous – real world then.

JC spinning the BMW was an amazing bit of TV. Plus all the Piers Morgan comments were great.

Unfortunately, nothing like that will change how people drive and treat other road users. The reason most people die on the road is simply because someone is not paying attention. No amount of information films are going to stop that. Until we train people properly, and instill that driving a car should be a privilege and not a right, then deaths will continue.

Made me chuckle too!

My TV has loads of other channels on it, has yours?

I enjoy it so I watched it.

You know that Top Gear is just an entertainment program, you know you don’t like it. Turn over, turn it off, go ride your bike.

Surprised Boardman took part TBH…..

Cos unlike most cyclists, especially internet forum dwellers that take themselves too seriously, he’s actually got a sense of humour and is a pretty decent bloke to boot! I’m sure he probably had a bit of a laugh with them over filming that, stupid as it may sound to the overly PC out there…

It’s a comedy / light entertainment prog, lighten up.

I knew as soon as I came on here tonight someone would be having a hissy fit about it.

I found it both amusing but at times felt uncomfortable thinking about some of the people who have recently died whist cycling and how their families must have been feeling if they were watching…….not like me to have any empathy really but what really surprised me was my wife’s disgust with her being a non cycling car driver married to a committed cyclist.
It at least raises the issue and makes more people talk about it!

Genuinely surprised by the responses here, I thought it was all going to be like the op

I had a chuckle too

Every item they put before a panel ends up like that

Not hilarious but parts were amusing

The thing is they have to do it in a tongue in cheek way that at first seem to be stupid and miss the point but in a way some of the gags are quite clever.

The red green wire one, yes it was done for a laugh and so they could blow up a bike but it is true and is a serious point. The pro-bike lobby won’t like it as it points out that come cyclists break the law but it is a valid point and the feelings it provokes in other road users are true as well.

But i thought the best was the Martin Luther King/John Lennon one as that is so true. At first glance it looks like a low blow gag but on the serious side of it it really doesnt matter if you are in the right if you die. would you rather not have to resort to giving way/swerving/stopping etc etc because you have right of way or live? Yes it is crap that you have to be in that position and you quite rightly shouldnt be but at the end of the day your life is worth far more than anything else and sometimes you have to give up and just survive the situation. Hopefully one day the other person will get what’s coming to them, or learn to pay more attention if it was a mistake not belligerence.

Thought it was funny

Sorry, I know it’s progressed a bit here but I’m going to close this as we’ve currently got two threads going discussing the same thing.

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/peee-essss-ayyyyy-top-gear-this-sunday-jezzer-rides-a-bike-this-week