I ride from West Wickham to Whitechapel for work, 21km. Get abuse from time to time, mainly from pissed off young blokes for some reason. PLENTY of near misses but doesn’t feel dangerous, I always just assume everyone is a shit driver and go from there.
Australia is exactly the same, imo.
Thing is, I have ridden a fair bit in Italy and it felt like another world. I guess the way the culture feels about cycling does have an impact. I am planning to ride a bit in France next year, will be interesting to see if it feels the same.
100% agree I’m just really wary of it now. My road choices are far more limited now too. At least I can go mountain biking but commuting by bike was something I always found fun.
For me it’s drivers have generally become a whole lot more impatient nowadays, and that’s along with cars being far quicker etc too. That’s a recipe for trouble real quick.
How many times has he crashed out of Grand tours etc. or played the obedient domestique?
He’s had a great career, not denying that, but the amount of times he’s had to pick himself up after disappointment is astonishing. And to his credit he always does.