More sport news, less doom?

More good new would be nice. I mentioned this in the survey, too.

I have not been following this site regularly for very long, maybe three or four years or so, but my impression is that the emphasis in the news section has shifted towards accidents and bike haters just during this passing year. Its becoming rather off-putting, I'd say.

More news on racing would not hurt, especially about the non-regular stuff. The article about dutch beach racing was a good one. And the blog entry "One foot in the gravel" was a real highlight. And first-hand interviews, more of those. The world is full of interesting people, some of those ride bikes, too.

I have not been following the site very closely the past weeks. If there has been a change away from the negative, that good news, indeed.

I think this is rather unfair, look at the current news feed and most is obvious stuff and you have to go a few articles in until the first 'gore' article which is actually a good news one.

I think this is rather unfair, look at the current news feed and most is obvious stuff and you have to go a few articles in until the first 'gore' article which is actually a good news one.

A bit less doom would be excellent I have to say, my username notwithstanding... Plenty of other sites full of doom of many different types

Agreed.

I really do like this website; it's my first port of call. But the unrelenting parade of terror, scaremongering and misery is genuinely depressing. I can't help thinking that if the effort put into finding YouTube clips of near passes were put into interviewing the likes of Gaby Durrin, people who tend to be ignored by the cycling media, we'd all be better off.

With you on the sentiment, although the comments on articles are not down to the editorial team to police in my view. I have to agree though that many of the white van story comments were the sort of thing I hoped to have left behind in the playground of secondary school.

Doom, death and disaster do sell newspapers but I thought this internet thing offered the opportunity for a more nuanced journalistic approach. Advocacy is great but I don't need to know the details of each individual casualty to know that better provision for cycling would be a good thing.

More sport reporting would balance the mix a bit but I wouldn't want to lose the reporting of issues that are of interest to cyclists in the real world as a result, just some of the ambulance chasing.

My mate calls this site 'roadkill.cc'

Agree 100%.

I'm quite OK where an article reports something currently or possibly shite, such as the proposed 'Garden Bridge' in London that might ban cyclists, and seeks a 38-Degrees-style call to action. That way we make a difference.

But hearing of yet another person mown down or beaten up for their bike does nothing at all to make me want to ride more, or to make things better.

Hopefully threads like this, along with survey feedback (I mentioned it there too) might see the tide turn.

I also mentioned this in the survey.

Totally agree, again mentioned in survey, perhaps there should be a gore filter on/off button on the home page.

Agree. Mentioned this a few times myself.

Agree.
The article on the guy getting beaten unconscious by a white van diver and then having his bike stolen did it for me.

Agree with the above, I was warning a friend the other day not to read this site before he bought a bike as he'd be too alarmed to start riding it.

I'm not particularly fussed about the sports reporting either way but I'm finding the balance of content increasingly gloom laden and intentionally provocative, not just the articles but some of the bickering and bullshit that is more frequent in the comments section.

It's a tricky balance because road.cc's USP is its cycle advocacy slant and without it they'd pretty much be another news and press release portal but honestly, there is nothing on this website that would encourage me to take up cycling if I was considering getting into it. The article mix is often quite surreal: Nice shiny things! But you might get crushed or attacked for using them... not very compelling message.

Totally agree with you on this. Mentioned it in the survey as well.

Perhaps splitting the news section into 2 sections on the top line, one for morbid news and the other for cycling news ?

Utterly agree. I tend to turn to Cycling Tips' excellent Rocacorba Daily these days as Road.cc seems far less bothered with the actual sport of cycling. Perhaps it's what some people want but personally I have no interest in Daily Mail level community rabble rousing that a high proportion of the articles on here seem to now be. Most notably the tenuous 'Bloke on bike robs bus of nuns' type stuff. Perhaps that's validated by the amount of hi-vis / helmet 'debates' and rants about pricing in the comments sections which seems to provide an indicator as to the site demographic.

Not necessarily a bad thing nor saying there's no place for it, just not for me. Still, I'm sure Road.cc will still exist long after I and others have ceased to visit.

Quite agree, made the same comment myself in that survey they're running at the moment.

Maybe I've just missed the point of this website. I had thought it was about (the sport of) road cycling?

Agreed. I find this site quite depressing at times.

You mean like it used to be in the good old days?

100% agree.

Agree