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news
Climbing Box Hill (CC-BY-2.0 Sizbut:Flickr)Woman's blog about Box Hill heckling attracts hundreds of supportive comments
A woman who was the victim of cruel heckling from other cyclists on Box Hill at the weekend has said the incident has made her think twice about riding alone again.
Elz Lloyd was cycling alone in the Surrey Hills on Sunday when two separate riders commented aggressively on her weight, one of them telling her to get "off the fucking road, you fat bitch". Reduced to tears she ended up cutting short her ride and returning home early.
After writing about the incident on her blog, Elz was "astounded" when almost 300 people responded with encouraging words, expressing disgust and solidarity, and invitations to ride.
Elz writes she was climbing Punchbowl Lane when two riders in Castelli kit cycled past her shouting: "…off the fucking road you fat bitch…"
Shortly afterwards another, this time solo rider, in black kit cycled past her on Box Hill, saying: "Can you get that fat ass up here?"
Elz told road.cc: "The first two that came by I was really angry, then I went to pieces in my head. I don't expect that out in the middle of nowhere.
"It hurt. it hurt quite a lot; I didn't expect it to."
She said the insults made her feel "wretched".
"I struggled to hold back the tears the first time, It is sad that people can be like that," she said.
She tried to ride harder to take her mind off it, until the Box Hill ascent when a lone rider, in plain black kit, snapped the second insult.
She writes: "I know I’m not skinny. I know I’ve got big boobs and am curvy (I’m paraphrasing a nice male mate of mine here). I know I smoked for 10 years. I know I’m riding alone because I really haven’t found any clubs around here that I’d be happy to join. Or any local friends."
"I didn't feel like going any further when I got to the bottom of Box Hill," she said. "I'm not that big but I felt mortified that someone could say that as they were going past.
"All I wanted to do was disappear. I didn't want to stop because I didn't want people asking [about it]. It was busy up there [at Box Hill]."
She said: "I didn't want to be there, I just wanted to come back, talk to a couple of mates".
As soon as she got home she wrote the blog post.
"I didn't expect that many people to read my blog," she said.
"I logged out of Facebook and Twitter and it was only when a friend called from America...I realised there were a lot of people talking about it."
Most comments, from both men and women, offer support, or recall similar comments about their weight made while running, cycling or even sitting in the park.
Many tell her not to be put off but for the time being Elz says she's reluctant to return to the area on weekends which, she says, are much busier than even a couple of years ago when she rode there regularly.
"I don't particularly want to ride out in the Surrey hills on my own now. it's very intimidating," she said.
Elz said: "There's plenty of sweary drivers that I just ignore or ride away from, but it hurts coming from other cyclists.
However, she says "for every bad one you get 100 good ones."
"I'm glad they are in the minority, but it's also good to get the support I received, that was astounding."
In one typically encouraging response, Chris NTR wrote: "Reading this has really made me angry for your experience. I started cycling when I was 21 stone and thankfully I did not encounter any of this negativity from fellow cyclists. I also did not have anyone to cycle with so started a group on Facebook which 7 years later has 800+ members and we have formed a British Cycling affiliated cycling club in the North East which now has over 160 members.
"Please keep cycling and don’t let idiots like this put you off. There is room for everyone in our sport no matter what sex, age or size they are but unfortunately that means there is room for the d*ckheads too."
One woman, posting as Cyclemouse, said she would have chased the abusive cyclists had she been there.
"Please don’t take any notice of those idiots. Cycling is for everyone regardless of shape or size. I’m a fast female roadie cyclist. If I’d been with you I would have chased their skinny backsides down and called them a few choice words in return," she said.
One or two comments suggested some sort of vigilante naming and shaming via Strava, which Lloyd quickly shut down as she knew them and they were not the culprits.
Laura Laker is a freelance journalist with more than a decade’s experience covering cycling, walking and wheeling (and other means of transport). Beginning her career with road.cc, Laura has also written for national and specialist titles of all stripes. One part of the popular Streets Ahead podcast, she sometimes appears as a talking head on TV and radio, and in real life at conferences and festivals. She is also the author of Potholes and Pavements: a Bumpy Ride on Britain’s National Cycle Network.
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132 comments
It's a joke, about someone who has been bullied by strangers for being fat, being fat.
You know, like complete arseholes make.
"identifier" not "indicator". Entertain yourself by spotting the difference.
I'm still at a loss as to what it is you are inferring about those that wear caps.
Since you don't know the difference between "inferring" and "implying" I'm not surprised you're at a loss. But the answer to the question you meant to ask i.e. "what am I implying..?" is "nothing at all". The cap reference - like the reference to colour of clothing and bike - was simply intended to help "identify" (read back above) the idiot concerned. Any additional grammar lessons will be chargeable.
So it was Michael Rasmussen?
He is pretty skinny, to be fair.
That's odd, she never mentioned you in her blog nor the fact that the guy was going downhill at the time, in fact she says that the he "passes" her and makes the comment. Odd things to leave out unless, of course, you're bullshitting.
Bullshitting about bullshit...is that bullshit squared (or cubed)?
Believe what you like, but that's my clear recollection. I'd not read the blog until after making the initial post but you can believe that (or not).
The laws of physics don't preclude two things passing each other yet going in opposite directions.
But this isn't a physics class, it's how people realistically describe things using language. When you're talking about someone passing in the opposite direction you would at least qualify it by saying "he was going downhill as I climbed" or "he was going the other way" or some such. If you're setting a scene it seems an odd thing to omit that they were going in the opposite direction.
Unless, of course, kangaroocourt is fibbing about being there in the first place. Not to mention that the whole incident (and the 'details' of it) are just as incredulous.
i'm more prepared to believe that you'd waste your life trying to discredit something you didn't witness, on an internet forum, based on some spurious semantic argument, than i am that she'd make up the whole thing for a bit of attention. but maybe that's just me
Strawman argument, the semantics were were refuting the supposed 3rd party witness to the 'incident', not the 'incident' itself.
there are only two outcomes to this:
1) the lady in question posts here to say she made it all up, and she's sorry
2) everyone else gets tired of your pathetic, pedantic assault and goes elsewhere, at which point you slap yourself on the back and decide you've won because no-one's bothering to contradict you any more
either way, congratulations on your 'victory'.
Calm down lovey.
Bollocks.
Maybe if you're an engineer/science bod (as I am), pedant, or or the sort of character type that exhibits such a characteristic.
But people just aren't as accurate or precise in their use of language as you may like them to be.
Can't help wondering if you'd even be persuing the 'didn't happen' line if it had been from a bloke...
You need to get out more..
I totally agree with this. I thought that crikey's comment wasn't just tasteless, it was completely shameful. You should stop embarrassing yourself, mate.
This is pretty much the general lines of argumentation that people use when they don't believe a victim of sexual assault (I appreciate this was not a sexual assault, and to draw such an emotive comparison may be over-egging it a little bit, but actually it's incredible how similar the logic above is with that of rape-apologists). Blaming the victim, ad hominem AND a straw man in one 'argument'? Congratulations!
Thankfully, anyone who talks about 'the rules' - particularly so-called 'rule 5' - is probably an idiot whose opinion we can safely disregard without much second thought anyway.
But making a sweeping generalisation about a group of people based on your view of one is OK?
Not defending Joeinpoole's comments for a moment, but as someone who is actively involved on the Rules' site I find your comments just as offensive as the ones being complained about in the original story.
Not least because it's actually a very supportive, inclusive and helpful community where the people would be the last to condone this sort of behaviour.
It's quite extraordinary that a story complaining of people being abused because of how they look or what they are doing has so much commentary denigrating other people for how they look or what they're doing.
If it's not right to do it to overweight cyclists struggling up hills on crappy bikes it's also not right to do it to roadie-racing types in nice kit with expensive bikes.
Yeah fair point, I apologise for those comments generalising people who refer to 'the rules'. I'll admit I personally am not a big fan of 'the rules' because it creates that classic in-group/out-group kind of mentality which is often so divisive and can alienate potentially new cyclists from the hobby (although I bet most cyclists are unaware of them anyway)...
However, I stand by the idea that someone saying that even if the story were true they should just 'harden the fuck up' is the sign of an idiot (albeit just one idiot who also happens to like 'the rules'), though.
Rule no. 5 is about cycling and not to be used to belittle people's feelings. The Rules are a useful guide but even Frank Streck knows they require judgement in their application. If you read the rules they are by an large pretty inclusive and instructional, but mostly fun.
How can I be "blaming the victim" if, as in all probability, there wasn't actually a 'victim' in the first place?
How can I actually express my disbelief in Elz's story, which happens to have more holes than a colander, without that being judged to be 'victim blaming' by PC morons like you?
Anyway, here's the *actual* story. There happens to be a fat lass in Surrey who craves much more attention than her attractiveness naturally generates. So she turns to 'social media' to help herself out ... Twitter, Facebook, blogging, etc. She picks up on the idea that the 'cycling community' are a generally sympathetic bunch to their kind ... so then makes up a story (or massively embellishes it, probably changing the language used, the location, etc) and is incredibly successful at gaining the desired attention. Good for her. By an extraordinary co-incidence it all happened on Box Hill too (phew!) ... because if it hadn't, it wouldn't have been newsworthy enough to generate the media's interest.
The lesson learned here is that if you want to portray yourself in the media as a 'cycling victim' then it definitely helps to be female ... overweight ... and, probably crucially ... on Box Hill in Surrey. Job done.
"How can I think the Jews had it coming, when I deny the Holocaust in the first place?"
Idiot.
I'm hoping that this is simply trolling but I can't let it go. I'm sorry, but this attitude is just the same as the one that is behind the incident that you think is made up. To wit, that women only have value in so far as they are attractive to men.
IMHO it's outdated and unpleasant.
Sadly it's true. Some knuckledraggers have yet to evolve
@ abudhabiChris I'm afraid olic is right, it's sexist allright. They might think it about a 'fat lad' but not as likely to shout it as they pass.
Colin, I don't think we are suggesting that all southerners are bar stewards or that this can't happen elsewhere. But it's reminiscent of the snobbery that is found more readily near the capital. Disappointed to see that oceandweller (in Berkshire) has suffered similar insults.
Wherever they are, it's a pretty shitty thing to do. What supreme cowards! Thankfully Elz has received many supportive comments and I hope she can find some arsehole-free places to ride her bike.
Elz, where I live in Yorkshire, this is called small d*ck syndrome, this type of person wears all the kit & rides an expensive bike to compensate for what's missing in their lives. Hurling abuse at anyone who isn't built like lathe to make themselves feel good.
Just ignore them and do the ride for the sheer pleasure of it, the only person who's opinion you need you need worry about your own. If your ever in East Yorkshire, PM me, I'd be proud to ride with you if you don't mind riding with a fat old git.
PS To other commentators, I tend to ride with a friend rather than in a club because of location not because I can't ride with a club. Remember not all cyclists want to be in clubs.
Big fan of cycling for this reason: Can't hide your small wanker in a pair of lycra....it's just out there for everyone to see.
An article reporting on people making groundless generalisations followed by a bunch of comments where people make groundless generalisations.
Stay classy people
What he said.
I can't imagine this sort of thing happening in many countries, what is wrong with these people, why are they so bloody aggressive?...... Thank God she's getting some support online, restoring my faith in humanity a little.
Amazing how much confirmation bias is going on in these comments; cyclists in the South-East the rudest around. Seriously?!
Sounds like Elz meet some douches. No one owns the road. Sometimes it is frustrating if you can't reach your target, but hey! That's life. It happens. Better luck next time.
I'm guessing they would've insulted any other rider getting in the way of their segment.
Fair play to anyone who gets out on a bike, but we are hardly a community, just like motorists are not in a club.
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