Cyclists are stupid, dangerous, irresponsible, and rude.

[KnottedYet]

It was a dark and foggy morning.

Knot was walking her dog on the sidewalk. In the dark and foggy distance she saw what looked like another pedestrian on the sidewalk. At least 30 yards away. No problem.

But no! Moments later she saw a glint of street light reflecting off handlebars. It was a BIKE, and now only a couple yards away! Knot and her dog were right in its path!

She called out, "Whoa! Didn't see you without a light! Sorry!" and hustled her dog off the sidewalk and out of the bike's way.

Cyclist ninja-girl proceeded to snark at Knot as she rode away.

Knot does not enjoy being called interesting names at quarter to seven in the morning, especially not when she has just abandoned the sidewalk and apologized to the aforementioned ninja-girl cyclist.

Knot was now feeling a bit of a cranky self-righteous passive-aggressive b*tch herself. Her faith in the general goodness of all bike-kind was slightly frayed.

Part 2

It was a twilit pre-sunrise morning, with fog just starting to thin out.

Knot was driving to work on a high-speed arterial with cars parked on the shoulders. Suddenly she sees a cyclist (dressed in dark colors with no lights, just like Snarky Girl) weaving in and out around the parked cars. Riding one-handed. Because he was carrying a coffee in his left hand.

There is a traffic-calmed bicycle boulevard one block to the west.

Knot was now VERY cranky.

----

Knot is a cyclist. Knot thinks bicycles are the second greatest invention in the universe. (After beer) If Knot (self-annointed patron saint of pedalling) got cranky this morning, imagine how Joe Blow feels when these events occur in his life. Joe Blow becomes very unhappy. Joe Blow does not feel the velo love.

Moral of the Story: Please don't be stupid, dangerous, irresponsible, or rude. That kind of stuff turns people against ALL cyclists.

[wawaski]

Well done.

[salsabike]

You live closer to the U district now, don't you?

[Eden]

Now if I could just convince people to start thinking the same way about all drivers when they see a driver weaving around.... not stopping at stop signs... driving with a coffee, phone, etc in one hand.....

Why is it that one cyclists behavior reflects on all cyclists, but a bad driver is more of less ignored....

[KnottedYet]

You live closer to the U district now, don't you?

Yes.

It's a different world.
(now I know why my coworkers gripe about cyclists)

[salsabike]

Yes.

It's a different world.
(now I know why my coworkers gripe about cyclists)

I know. Different culture there---true for pedestrian behavior on campus as well; it can get scary,dangerous, unpredictable.

[zoom-zoom]

Knot is a cyclist. Knot thinks bicycles are the second greatest invention in the universe. (After beer) If Knot (self-annointed patron saint of pedalling) got cranky this morning, imagine how Joe Blow feels when these events occur in his life. Joe Blow becomes very unhappy. Joe Blow does not feel the velo love.

Moral of the Story: Please don't be stupid, dangerous, irresponsible, or rude. That kind of stuff turns people against ALL cyclists.

+1 million (right down to the beer part)

[zoom-zoom]

Now if I could just convince people to start thinking the same way about all drivers when they see a driver weaving around.... not stopping at stop signs... driving with a coffee, phone, etc in one hand.....

Why is it that one cyclists behavior reflects on all cyclists, but a bad driver is more of less ignored....

This is something I need to point out to people every chance I can.

[lph]

Why is it that one cyclists behavior reflects on all cyclists, but a bad driver is more of less ignored....

Because cyclists are these strange, unusual people who go out there and choose to not drive, like everyone normal. Driving is like breathing, ya know, why would you not do that?

Nice story, Knot!

[westtexas]

Now if I could just convince people to start thinking the same way about all drivers when they see a driver weaving around.... not stopping at stop signs... driving with a coffee, phone, etc in one hand.....

Why is it that one cyclists behavior reflects on all cyclists, but a bad driver is more of less ignored....

+1.

I read a forum thread once from my old home town that basically said, "until all cyclists follow the rules I am going to treat them like law breakers/scofflaws and the self-righteous/entitled people they are."

And I thought... I bet you speed in your car, and run stop signs (it's a run if you don't do a complete 3 second stop!) and break the rules of the road in your car... so does this give me permission to treat you like you're a lawbreak/scofflaw and self-righteous/entitled driver? I think so! But I won't, haha.

[7rider]

This is something I need to point out to people every chance I can.

+1,000,000

Motorists are stupid, dangerous, irresponsible, and rude.

And as long as they generalize about my mode of transportation, I will generalize about their mode of transportation.
Oh, and by the way. I drive, too. I even drive an SUV from time to time.

[Crankin]

I say something (often to the point of scaring my DH) to a lot of bad drivers I see.
I now drive in 2 cities where a large portion of the population learned to drive in other countries. Not saying the rules are different in other places, but the proportion of absolutely outrageous and dangerous driving incidents I have seen is just scary. One of the places I drive in (and where my actual office is) is a city where people have been cited for insurance scams by "causing" accidents, both in cars and as pedestrians. People just walk out in the street, head down, hood over head, into the traffic, and go. I stop... yea, they may be waiting for the lady in the BMW to hit them, but I am as courteous as I can be. I see 3-5 people run red lights after the light has changed.
So, I hate bad drivers as much as I dislike rude cyclists.

[Desert Tortoise]

Good story!

Why is it that one cyclists behavior reflects on all cyclists, but a bad driver is more of less ignored....[/QUOTE]

Good point and I agree with the others, I think I will bring this up when others point out what wrong with cyclists and how they should be banned from the roads. Not to start an argument but to turn it around and show how it feels on the other side. A lot of us have a hard time understanding what we don't know but can do a little better relating it to things we do know.

[beccaB]

Very Good post, Knot.

[jessmarimba]

Bad drivers are why I started commuting by bike! I think if I had to drive with traffic during rush hour, I'd probably die of a heart attack by 35. People are just so entitled in their car-bubbles. It's ok to run the red light, because you've waited too long at the light. It's ok to not allow people to merge, because your life is more important than theirs. It's ok to pull out in front of someone, because you're in a bigger hurry and they can slow down. It's ok to just brake and practically STOP in the left lane because you realized you need to turn right but you have to cross 4 lanes of traffic first (this one absolutely baffles me). And god forbid, don't pay any attention to the "exit only" signs over your lane on the interstate and drive over the median without looking at the last second because you didn't mean to exit there.