Bojo's Backie Abomination.

What was the hot cycling news yesterday in the national Media? Boris Johnson giving his wife a backie on his bike, that's what.

Here is how the BBC ran the story of this heinous crime Non Story and it was in all the other main news media too it would appear.

What a load of cobblers. Really. 

Ah but giving a 'backie' is an offence, punishable with a fine of up to £200. Yeah and the law is an ass, like so many in this country these days.

Look on the web at photos of urban cycling and you'll see people the world over giving backies, or with a pillion sat side saddle style on a rack at the back, or carrying the whole family, and their shopping for a month, on some old boneshaker. It's just people getting on with their lives, nothing to get steamed up about at all. They live life in countries that are more tolerant and balanced, and less bitter, twisted and judgemental than we here in Britain.

The BBC article above also states the footage of the crime captured by The Sun showed Mr Johnson's wife “Sitting on the saddle, without a helmet, holding her handbag as her husband pedals.” (My italics). Woo... she wasn't wearing a plastic hat – Gasp! Condemn her recklessness! Throw rotten fruit at her in the street! Scowl accusingly and wag a finger at her! 

She wasn't wearing a magic hat, so bloody what? It was BoJo doing the piloting, not Bradley Wiggins going for the hour record or the chap Froome giving it the courageous conkers down some Alpine descent in the Tour de France. Not wearing a helmet, is thankfully, not against the law, and that is the way it should be. Whether Johnson's other half or anyone else for that matter wears a bonce potty on a bicycle or not, is their business, and purely their business, no one else's.

Put them in the stocks!

For heaven's sake where has all the common sense and balance gone these days? What is it with we British that we have to be so narrow minded and judgemental all the time? Why should Boris have to apologise, and to whom exactly? Did he offend anyone? Well if he did then it's the people who got offended who should be apologising for being such stupid human beings. 

Boris should instead be applauded for saving the planet, using his initiative, being normal, having bloody fun! I'm pretty sure he could have got a taxi from the start for the pair of them, or even a chauffeur driven limo perhaps given his status, but no, he got on a bike with his wife and the fun suckers are only too happy to jump on him and criticise, and the brainless wagon jumping finger pointers are equally happy to join in the lynching.

But it's all to do with the new religion of course, health and safety, and what a crock of crap so much of that is too. Dan Snow was on the BBC on Sunday evening presenting an excellent programme about the dawn of the railway age and there he was, walking along a bit of track in full dayglo (ok, fair enough perhaps), some sort of weird looking gloves, safety glasses and a hard hat. Why? The only danger he faced was being hit by a train and how much good will his gloves, glasses and hard hat be at warding off several hundred tons of speeding metal? None at all, unless they were made from some new sort of indestructible material that would see an express merely bounce off, and Snow little more than lightly startled, in which case I think the rest of us should know what this invincowear is all about. 

But that's health and safety without brains for you, and it is actually more of a hazard if only the people who insisted on all this sort of crap actually understood the subject a little better, and it really isn't difficult to grasp, it's to do with human nature and common sense in fact. Ah but that's the problem, common sense is not allowed any more, and human nature isn't to be trusted, it must be legislated, and controlled. Oh and condemned too of course.

I despair of this country I really do.