Lone female cyclists are “being targeted”, says former Scottish champion

It is accurate, though, in that it's reporting what a particular person said. She may or may not be correct that these attacks specifically, or attacks more generally, are particularly targeting women, but that's how it feels to her, based on her experiences and those she's heard about from others, and that's what the article's covering.

Yes, but the article writer does have some control over the narrative.  There is an issue with the constant portrayal of women as potential victims (with a responsibility to protect themselves), and the fact that she was asked whether she feared she was going to be attacked suggests they were keen to emphasise her potential victimhood.  Some women are fed up of being told to protect themselves, and are trying to change the narrative to e.g. 'Educate your sons', i.e. put the responsibility where it belongs.  Being portayed as potential victims results in being perceived as potential victims, which is not good.  Advising women to only go out in groups is akin to saying that, because of the large number of near-misses being reported, cyclists should stay off the roads.  Restricting oneself to group rides, especially as a woman, would severely limit your opportunities for cycling.

That's an argument about emphasis and editorial choices, though - not about accuracy, which is how the original comment was framed.

Also, it's not clear from the above that she was prompted about fears, rather than just volunteering her thoughts (it might be clearer in the original article - I don't know, because paywall). If she was, though, that seems like more of a bone to pick with The Times, rather than road.cc.

It's quite far down the above article, but it says she '...was asked by The Times if she feared that the attackers intended to assault her.' (Just for the record, I wasn't picking a bone with Road.cc, just commenting on the way things are presented generally, whether by journalists or society in general.) And Open_Roads did say 'A more accurate report / headline would be...' - and I think their point still stands: often, things are portrayed as a threat to women specifically, when men are also at risk.

Fair enough - missed that. For some reason it's buried in a bit where they already appear to have moved off the present story to add in references to previous ones.

For what it's worth, I agree with the thrust of the points you're making. I still don't think it's a question of accuracy though - nor do I think those were the points open_roads was making.

I have a friend who rides with an old chain in her pocket...

I'd agree with this. I'm a middle aged bloke, been cycling for 40+ years. And I've got to say Surrey is probably the nastiest place to cycle in the UK in my expereience. I'm not one for group cycling, nor do I tend to be out with the hordes. I prefer longer rides starting late mornings or afternoons, taking me, frequently, beyond the hours of darkness. And one ride in particular sticks in my mind. I'd done a bit of a "climb-fest" from Farnborough out through the Surrey Hills and was making my way up Box Hill before turning to head home. Mid summer so still light but "quiet on the hill" with the cafes closed. 

What happened next was pretty upsetting to be honest, and with 25 years in the army behind me it takes some doing to upset me. A gang of what can best be described as "feral youths" came down the hill toward me on mopeds that, if they were legally owned and operated I'll eat my chamois pad. They were weaving around and generally "just being teenagers". There was no one else around to be bothered by them swerving from edge to edge. I presumed they'd just pass me by swerving to the far edge of the road. But no. They "buzzed" me close after doing the "playing chicken" head-to-head thing. As you might imagine, I swore in response to that. Then they disappeared around the next bend. Relieved, I continued my climb.

But they must have turned around in one of the gravel parking areas on the first 'zig', and caught me near the top of the second 'zag'. which was were things took a turn for the worse, with this mob of about six moped riders jostling for position alongside me so they could take a turn at trying to kick out at me, preumably hoping that I'd take a tumble down the grassy hill. In reality they were as much a danger to themselves as to me. There were a couple of near collisions between them which I think brought the "attack" to an end, whereas they were nowhere near as competent on their machines as their bravado suggested, so they didn't land a single blow.

Pretty worrying, too, was wondering whether to continue up to the top of Zig Zag Road (possibility of them waiting to "ambush" me?), or turning around and being "caught unawares" if they came down again behind me. So I just thought "face up" and climbed. Turned out they'd disappeared, I certainly didn't see them again. This must have been pre-2012 too, before I was using a GPS device, but post-2010 because of the bike I was riding. 

I definitely felt "singled out" and "targeted" that evening, despite being a lone male rather than a female. I'm not going to deny any female the feeling that it's "because I'm a woman", but personally I don't think it is. In my opinion it's less about mysogyny, and more about an irrational hatred toward cyclists. Reporting to the police? All well and good, but unless you have a camera filming the incident, or an independent witness able to take registration numbers, any investigation is unlikely to get very far. I'm sure they'd have taken it more seriously if I'd been injured (or worse). And I'm sure they'd take a far keener interest if it were a car driver tootling about pushing mopeds into ditches. And while I miss those Surrey Hills climbs now I've moved further away, I certainly don't miss the frequently toxic attitude of other road users out that way. It's especially galling when you're being ranted at about "TdF Wannabes" and "selfish group rides" when you're out on your own trying to have a quiet ride away from big group rides...

yellowjack wrote:

While I miss those Surrey Hills climbs now I've moved further away, I certainly don't miss the frequently toxic attitude of other road users out that way. It's especially galling when you're being ranted at about "TdF Wannabes" and "selfish group rides" when you're out on your own trying to have a quiet ride away from big group rides...

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/608904