Quote Originally Posted by KnottedYet View Post
One cyclist, trying to "be the change you want to see", can make an impression on drivers, wherever we are.

Wholehearted AGREE here. I got my bike in part because I wanted to effect change and believe that one must be willing to sacrifice your own comforts first and live as an example before asking other people to change their ways. I'm all for alternate commuting over the single-occupancy commuter car model; I bus and bike everywhere, but I had to learn how to do it first. And learning to do it RIGHT and in a way that would be a positive experience not just for me but for the other people on the roads was very important to me. I spent as much time reading up about how to behave in traffic as I did researching what make of bike to buy. I wish everybody would.

I'm not the sort to correct other people though. The messengers drive me nuts because their antics are what get seen by drivers as opposed to my own careful "ride as part of traffic" style. IMO, a "good" urban cyclist will hardly even be noticed because they fit in with the flow of traffic.