Man finds himself saying ‘fucking cyclists’ every time he gets behind the wheel

17 September, 2016. 16:45

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JOINING ARTHUR TALLON ON HIS morning commute was stressful enough, but what came out of his mouth was the hate gravy upon his roast of every cyclist we drove past.

“Just look at the cunt,’ he said.

The 43-year-old tax agent pointed with his hand outstretched as we headed toward central Betoota yesterday morning, past a lone cyclist who didn’t know if he was on the road or on the shoulder.

“Does he want to die? Does he want to get run over? Just look at the cunt!” Tallon grabbed the wheel with both hands and shook himself back and forward in a fit of rage. “And I’d be the prick if he went under my Tuff-bar and came out the other end a quadriplegic,” he said.

“I must say something like that once a day. I hate the fucking things. People like that should move somewhere where cycling is more appropriate, like the bohemian part of Morven or even fucking Cunnamulla. I don’t give a fuck.”

The systemic loathing of people who ride expensive racing bicycles has long been a part of desert life, with police receiving close to 900 complaints so far in 2016. What that number doesn’t reveal is that means every single cyclist in the Diamantina Shire has been abused, threatened or physically assaulted every time they got the bike out of the garage.

“It’s a problem that we’re looking to tackle in the future,” said Quilpie probationary constable Murray Glenda. “But it’s a long way out there just to investigate a crime against a cyclist.”

“We’d have to go out there if somebody died, obviously. But whenever the Flying Doctor is called out, we’ve gotta do paperwork. Most times, they just has a bad fall.”

More to come.