Here is a link to an article which may seem controversial. I'm posting it, however, because I have experienced in my riding things which seem awfully similar to racism, sexism, etc.
Since I'm female I can speak from experience. It's not just the fact that some people feel free that they can take liberty to take my life on the road and maybe get away with it. It's the smirks I get, the way cops treat my complaints and that of other cyclists complaints irrelevant, and other miscellaneous incidents like a store clerk pitching a fit at me just for bringing my bike in the store. All I know is that from my cycling experience, I'm really getting to understand the full meaning of being a second class citizen. I'm beginning to get an idea of how it feels to be black. So some bits of this article were kind of useful to me in that they explained how one power grabbing group (drivers, eg.) goes about obtaining and cementing their power in the social structure. The article says, "To some in our culture, bicyclists are strange people who wear odd clothes and act childishly. Native Americans were described in those same terms by colonists." While I wouldn't go as far as the author with these ideas, I thought they would be interesting to stir some debate.
The BikeForums Team
-adv-
This is an archived thread, you can find the full version of this thread, with images, links and more content here.
We gotta get some feathers to go with the spandex. And bows'n'arrows!
spandexwarrior
Oh, just as a note, in that incident where I brought my bike in the store, there was no place to park my bike, no racks, any posts or tree affix my bike to. I also noticed kids brought their bike in that same store on other occasions.
cosmo starr
the 'i ride my bike because i want to not because i have to' kind of idea
Lord Chambers
Well that sure was a great article.
It should be said though, that we choose to cycle, while the victims of racism, sexism, ageism, ableism, and so on, don't get to choose.
lilHinault
Wow. That is a powerful article. Very worth reading and re-reading. Do so and pray for $5 gas.
Daily Commute
I think it's counter-productive to compare discrimination against cyclists to discrimination against racial, ethnic, or religious minorities. One is bad policy, the others are evil.
It makes more sense to attack the "discrimination" on the merits--explain why it's bad policy to bar cyclists from drive thru's, design intersections that cyclists can't use, etc.
We risk alienating our audience if we push our arguments too far.
I-Like-To-Bike
I think it's counter-productive to compare discrimination against cyclists to discrimination against racial, ethnic, or religious minorities. One is bad policy, the others are evil.
It makes more sense to attack the "discrimination" on the merits--explain why it's bad policy to bar cyclists from drive thru's, design intersections that cyclists can't use, etc.
We risk alienating our audience if we push our arguments too far.
I agree 100% with DC's analysis. One added comment - what "audience", unless already in the choir, would not be repulsed by such preaching/comparisons?
Mr. Miskatonic
Hmmm,
The conservative side of me rebels against this idea, since I loathe the idea of beoming a culture of victimhood that seems to plauge far too many, and prevents genuine progress.
On the other hand, in this day and age, at least in the US minorities, be they cyclists or by skin tone should expect at least minimal support from police and the law. The fact that I have heard so many stories of police refusing to make reports that there is definately some legitimacy to a comparison to been of different skin color. THe fact that people think that throwing objects at a cyclist is perfectly acceptable behavior to perform or talk about on radio shows should make any decent human being wince.
I confess, that when having arguements with various bike-hating drivers on message boards, that there are tmes when I have to supress urges to post things like this:
Driver: So cylists should get off the road whenever a car is in sight. They have no right to the road. They don't pay any gas tax. They are in My way! (blah blah blah)
Mr. Miskatonic: Yes Massa! We be good bikey. Get off the road for massa!
Partly because any zing and sting to the arrogant driver would be lost in a sea of offensiveness to genuine suffering of minorities. Cycling, after all is not slavery, it is freedom.
I am of multiple minds on this article. I suppose that is a good thing.
lilHinault
One is bad policy, the other is evil? No, killing a kid with reckless driving and being allowed to get away with it is evil too. Mowing down cycists because your boss yelled at you at work and getting a misdemeanor ticket is evil. Both are evil, any behavior that allows the killing with no or reduced repercussions of the "other" is evil. That's right, war's evil too.
I woke up this morning thinking about this, the thing about the Klan is, hooding the rider and his horse (this was done because back in the day, horses were recognized just like you'd recognize your buddy's Langster) enabled evil to be committed anonymously. And I've long wondered why cars have been intentionally designed to make the driver hard or impossible to see by other drivers, bicyclists, or peds. Then, the connection: the silvered or tinted windows, and sloping, reflective windshield, and the Klan hood.
Let's not let this issue die folks!
KrisPistofferson
Uh, even if cyclists and ethnic minorities WHERE somehow analogous, it would still be some tool in a $150 jersey comparing himself to somebody being lynched during Jim Crow. To be clear, even if we CAN make such comparisons, we should refrain, to avoid looking like melodramatic idiots.
I-Like-To-Bike
Uh, even if cyclists and ethnic minorities WHERE somehow analogous, it would still be some tool in a $150 jersey comparing himself to somebody being lynched during Jim Crow. To be clear, even if we CAN make such comparisons, we should refrain, to avoid looking like melodramatic idiots.
To be even clearer, for the sake of actually advocating cycling as a useful and beneficial activity to the public, cyclists should avoid BEING melodramatic idiots.
Roody
The comparison between cyclists and memebers of minorities is odious. There simply is no systematic, socially sanctioned campaign of hatred and violence toward cyclists, as there are or have been against true minorities. Nobody has been lynched, taunted, humiliated, gassed, cremated, raped, denied a job or a place to live, or even a bank loan simply because they ride a bike. Period.
As a gay man I know what it is like to feel hated and marginalized by large elements of the social and judicial order. And this--cycling--ain't the same thing at all. You all are letting your imaginations carry you away!
jamiegoesbiking
It really depends on where you live, I think. In northeast Ohio, things were generally pretty good for cyclists. I grew up south of Cleveland, and I learned how to get around people on bikes, be they kids on BMX or roadies on a woodsy road. Sure, some people were rude and I'd get pissed, but then again, I often encountered these people on a 45 mph road through a valley the roadies LOVED. I knew from the minute I got on that road that a cyclist could be around the corner. I wasn't surprised because they were all over.
Where I live now is different. People seem to view their cars as unstoppable missiles that, if they slam into someone, well, that person was going too damn slow. It's stressful for me to drive my car! I haven't passed a roadie in the 10 months I've been here! I've only seen four out there! I know there are more, but nowhere near the numbers in Ohio.
This makes motorists impatient because a cyclist is like an alien. The only way that I think we can make people shut the hell up is to just increase the number of lawful cyclists out there. When they see they can't just kick us off the road, maybe they'll be more accepting.
Or maybe when you move some place, you should make this a part of the reseach. I know I will! =)
Daily Commute
Drivers of cars are like KKK members??? Whose mind do you think you'll change with that "logic"?
Guest
Drivers of cars are like KKK members??? Whose mind do you think you'll change with that "logic"?
I could have sworn I saw some hoods peekin' out over their steering wheels today alone! :eek:
:D
There's really no comparison here. It's not like you can get to work and take your skin off and blend with everyone else.
Koffee
Dchiefransom
I can see from some comments above, that cultural psycology is not a subject that people like to read about. The writer is not comparing cyclists with minorities, he's comparing the psycology of denying them what they deserve, or allowing them to be abused without doing anything. I find his line of reasoning descriptive and accurate. No, we won't win anyone over by pointing this out, since people will recognize themselves in this behavior, and the defensive walls of denial will go up.
lilHinault
I don't think car drivers are like Klan members fully and consciously, most of car advertising works at the subconscious level. A car that allows the driver to be not seen easily might strike the buyer as "nice styling" or something, the V8 engine might be consciously thought of as "practical for driving through snow" or "safe on the freeway". But the lure of power over others and anonymity is still there.
And there are many stories here of people being denied jobs because they ride, if you've never bought a car ("major purchase") you can be denied loans, and I'm sure people can come up with a plentitude of stories of being being harassed, etc even things close to lynching (beaten to death, killed by car in road rage cases etc.) on here.
Yeah you can get off the bicycle and be a Good 'Murrican and drive a car, it's hard to change you skin unless you're Micheal Jackson lol.
Dfranchiesmom makes the best point, that it's about socially sanctioned harassment and killing of the Other. And true, it won't win anyone over because it's true.
Daily Commute
I don't think car drivers are like Klan members fully and consciously, . . . But the lure of power over others and anonymity is still there.
I don't think most car drivers are like Klan members consciously or unconsciously.
And there are many stories here of people being denied jobs because they ride, if you've never bought a car ("major purchase") you can be denied loans[.]
Some jobs require a car. If you don't want one of those jobs, get another one. All of our choices open some doors and close others.
and I'm sure people can come up with a plentitude of stories of being being harassed, etc even things close to lynching (beaten to death, killed by car in road rage cases etc.) on here.
Yes, cyclists are sometimes crime victims. But so are pedestrians and drivers. Comparing that to lynching demeans what lynching was all about.
Dfranchiesmom makes the best point, that it's about socially sanctioned harassment and killing of the Other. And true, it won't win anyone over because it's true.
Yeah, sometimes people annoy us, but the "harassment" we receive is not on the same level as Jim Crow. Overall, commuting by bike makes my life better than commuting by car.
randya
Good article, thanks for posting!
IMO, the analogy to racism is spot on. Bicyclists' right to safe access to and passage on our public streets is most certainly a civil rights issue.
Incidents like this are posted here all the time, and they're only the ones that the survivors of near misses care to share: http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=132158
These incidents are really no different than a cross-burning or a lynching, and if you don't believe this, IMO you're in DEEP denial.
Roody
I don't think car drivers are like Klan members fully and consciously, most of car advertising works at the subconscious level. A car that allows the driver to be not seen easily might strike the buyer as "nice styling" or something, the V8 engine might be consciously thought of as "practical for driving through snow" or "safe on the freeway". But the lure of power over others and anonymity is still there.
And there are many stories here of people being denied jobs because they ride, if you've never bought a car ("major purchase") you can be denied loans, and I'm sure people can come up with a plentitude of stories of being being harassed, etc even things close to lynching (beaten to death, killed by car in road rage cases etc.) on here.
Yeah you can get off the bicycle and be a Good 'Murrican and drive a car, it's hard to change you skin unless you're Micheal Jackson lol.
Dfranchiesmom makes the best point, that it's about socially sanctioned harassment and killing of the Other. And true, it won't win anyone over because it's true.Nobody was denied a job because they ride a bike, if you read those posts carefully. They were denied jobs because they did not have a car. Very different. They also would have lost the job if they walked or took the bus. Millions of people without cars have credit cards and mortgages, so that point is also invalid. Most of the road rage incidents you read about here are pure crap. "I yelled at a cager who was eating a donut and talking on hiss cell phone and he swerved in front of me and I had to swerve so he wouldn't kill me." Well, if he had really been aiming at you, you probably wouldn't be able to swerve. And why doesn't your yelling count as road rage, but his response does? Also there are never any witnesses or corroboration, just an anonymous person's report on the internet. If you believe all those, I've got a used Huffy I'd like to sell you. A final point is that even in legitimate road rage cases, the cager doesn't attack the cyclist because he is riding a bike, but because he perceived him to be in his way. Most of these road ragers would attack anybody who got in their way, cyclist, ped, or another cager.
I agree that we do see things differently than law enforcement does at times. Cops and judges might be too quick to say that the cyclist got in the way, rather than pin the blame on a careless cager. But that does not constitute systematic discrimination. Drunks who kill cyclists, or people who run lights and kill cyclists, are usually prosecuted if there is enough evidence. However, if there are no witnesses, and it is one person's word against another's, it is usually impossible to prosecute. That goes for everybody, not only those who offend against cyclists.
KrisPistofferson
These incidents are really no different than a cross-burning or a lynching, and if you don't believe this, IMO you're in DEEP denial.I would imagine there are quite a few more white cyclists than southern blacks that find these two things analogous. We cyclists have our hurdles to overcome, but calling up the spectre of racism is counterproductive, silly, and not a little offensive. I'm trying to be polite, but this is ****ing crazy that grown adults are making these comparisons. This is, in my opinion, a sure sign that many of you have never experienced any substantial discrimination, and it also clears up some of the mystery of why people like Rush Limbaugh are able to portray liberals as whiny victims. This comparison is invalid, and this thread ****ing sucks.
I-Like-To-Bike
I'm trying to be polite, but this is ****ing crazy that grown adults are making these comparisons. This is, in my opinion, a sure sign that many of you have never experienced any substantial discrimination, and it also clears up some of the mystery of why people like Rush Limbaugh are able to portray liberals as whiny victims. This comparison is invalid, and this thread ****ing sucks.
You are making a BIG assumption that these are grown adults making such ignorant comparisons; well maybe grown physically, but intellectually? I'd guess grade school if not infantile.
And another questionable assumption is that these whiny "victims" spouting off sterotypes and generalizations are the dreaded "Liberals." Cycling Jack-Donkeys too silly to have a knowlegeable political thought would be my assumption.
Daily Commute
Good article, thanks for posting!
IMO, the analogy to racism is spot on. Bicyclists' right to safe access to and passage on our public streets is most certainly a civil rights issue.
Incidents like this are posted here all the time, and they're only the ones that the survivors of near misses care to share: http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=132158
These incidents are really no different than a cross-burning or a lynching, and if you don't believe this, IMO you're in DEEP denial.
People commit crimes against cycists, drivers, pedestrians, and people who just stay at home. People who commit crimes against cyclists may get off too easy sometimes, but many people say many other criminals get off easier than we would like.
Saying that discrimination against cyclists is as bad as Jim Crow demeans the evil of Jim Crow. On a practical level, the argument won't win us any friends, either. And it shouldn't.
Bikepacker67
I'm a cyclist.
I'm a motorist (who - believe it or not - follows the speed limits).
I get a helluva lot more grief from the "cagers" due to the latter.
It's not that cyclists are minorities. It's that SOME motorists act like tyrants to all - peds/bikes/fellow motorists; no discrimination.
spandexwarrior
Lemmie clarify something. I said in my post that I wouldn't go as far as the author with his ideas. I ripped the line "bicyclists as minorities" directly from his article. I never intended to say that I considered us cyclists minorities. What I do think, though, is that the same dominant cultural forces which begot racism are the same which create a culture where it is acceptible to terrorize cyclists. They use the same strategies. The reason I mentioned getting smirked at is that when I'm on or attired for the bike, people think they don't have to show respect towards me. Dehumanizing the group you want to marginalize is always the first step before war or racial violence. The black sambo cartoons were an example. I've had people laugh when I've wrecked and one person yelled "idiot" at me when I skidded out on some motor oil while descending downhill. They don't see me as human. That's all I was trying to say in my post. There is just some creepy attitude people can have which can lead to socially sanctioned violence. While we will never face the hardships of one who is bound by the colour of their skin, we do face hatred. There is the same class of people doing this- people who feel God or whomever has given them the privilages they have and they feel entitled to rub it in other people's faces. One person said, "I bet you can't drive." In my city, bikes aren't that numerous and even people who should be hip on environmental issues, treat me and what I do as stupid or irrelevant. But, hey, everything happens here ten years later, according to Mark Twain. Thus, in this city, driving as viewed as a indicator of your social class more than anything else. Mostly the only thing that drives people to bike here is lack of money, since there are almost no bike lanes, and many hills. They don't matter if you have a kickass bike, however. Classim is more the impetus behind racism. The blacks were never enslaved just because they had melanin in their skin- it was because they had no defense against guns and could be thus made an economic commodity. Economics factors into the bike issue. Time is money, and why be delayed when you can use scare tactics to keep people from getting in the road and slowing you down. I can only conclude by saying, "All power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely." And I am happy I've had this experience of being marginalized, because I've learned to see it better when it happens to others. And I won't let anyone scare me off the road.
randya
Saying that discrimination against cyclists is as bad as Jim Crow demeans the evil of Jim Crow. On a practical level, the argument won't win us any friends, either. And it shouldn't.
Either you beleive that a certain percentage of the motoring population actively tries to run cyclists down, or you don't. That, and a look-the-other-way attitude is all it takes. You won't ever win the *****holes over, stop trying.
Daily Commute
Either you beleive that a certain percentage of the motoring population actively tries to run cyclists down, or you don't. That, and a look-the-other-way attitude is all it takes. You won't ever win the *****holes over, stop trying.
Yes, a very, very tiny portion of drivers will inentionally try to run down a cyclist. But a very tiny portion of drivers will also inentionally run down pedestrians and other drivers. This isn't KKK, its just ordinary crime.
Comparing ourselves to racial minorities will not only fail to persuade the jerks, but it will also alienate people who are willing to listen.
Martyr
It's not that cyclists are minorities. It's that SOME motorists act like tyrants to all - peds/bikes/fellow motorists; no discrimination.
Yep.
I think it is often just a case of bullying.
Cars give people a different personality - and isolation from their environment. It makes it very easy for them to push their weight around if the mood takes them. I am convinced that the majority of these people would not act as threateningly if they were walking by or in the opposite direction, say.
I have had a number of people buzz or abuse me in the city - only to be caught at lights further up the road. All of them have backed right down when caught up. And they really get uncomfortable when i pull out a camera and photograph them. Bullies are like that.
cheers
marty
lilHinault
I just want to know why cars have intentionally been designed to hide the driver. The only communication between driver and his all-too-often victems a horn-honk.
Miracle Whip
I just want to know why cars have intentionally been designed to hide the driver.
You're really reaching with this one.
Lucky13
"Nothing I do is my fault. My family is dysfunctional, my parents won't empower me and society turns a blind eye towards me. My behavior is addictive functioning on a disease process of toxic codependency! I need holistic healing and wellness before I'll accept any responsibility for my actions!" -- Calvin
"One of us needs to stick his head in a bucket of ice water." -- Hobbes
"I love the culture of victimhood." -- Calvin
DnvrFox
That article is a bunch of crap and sniveling.
The poor, poor bicyclist!
The worlds smallest violin playing "I cry for you."
Bicyclists, stop feeling sorry for yourself.
There are many "Minorities" who can legitimately claim discrimination
Individuals with Disabilities
Racial groups
Ethnic groups
People in our society who are older
Gays and lesbians
But bicyclists?
To put bicyclists in the same classification is insulting!
The author makes numerous unsupported assumptions and therefore comes to unsupported conclusions in his search for becoming an "equal-rights" victim.
Go find a REAL problem and help to solve it.
And work with your local or national advocacy organization to improve the climate for bicycling, as folks in many other activities already do with their local and national advocacy organizations.
JRA
That article is a bunch of crap and sniveling.Yes it is.
Some of it seems reasonable but the basic premise is both absurd and offensive. Unfortunately, that kind of nonsense is all too representative of what passes in some circles as cycling advocacy. It is why some so-called cycling advocates can quite accurately be described as crackpots.
In fact, "Cyclists as Crackpots" would be a better title for the article than the title the author chose.
DnvrFox
What I do think, though, is that the same dominant cultural forces which begot racism are the same which create a culture where it is acceptible to terrorize cyclists. They use the same strategies.
Do you really feel specifically terrorized?
Or is it a few errant motorists who drive unsafely, endangering and terrorizing everyone, not just bicyclists?
While driving my car I feel more terrorized by the huge 4 wheel drive pickup following me 3 feet behind my bumper while going 70 miles per hour than I have ever felt terrorized while bicycling.
You are taking the actions of folks who are rude and dangerous to EVERYONE and applying it only to bicycling and then claiming that it makes bicycling a special class because these folks are on the same road you are on. Wrong, they are on the same road that EVERYONE is on, and endanger pedestrians, other drivers, and, yes, bicyclists, and strangely, even themselves.
Bullies and terrorists in vehicles are "equal opportunity" bullies and terrorists.
Gurgus
I thought this article was ok. But what do you do with someone who doesn't want even to hear a cyclists side of things?
Over the weekend, I went to my Godson's fourth birthday party. His father, (my cousin's husband) and I were talking and the subject of cycling in traffic came up because it's know that I'm a person who enjoys riding in traffic. It sort of makes me the black sheep of the family. Anyway, this guy said that he would rather allow his son to get a tattoo at the age of 16 than ride in traffic. I have nothing against tattoos, but c'mon, 16?
That aside, he told me that if a cyclist passes him three times he passes them and moves as far to the right as possible as to harass the cyclist.
I asked him why he would do that as I couldn't believe what I was hearing. He replied that cyclists slow him down. I said why not just get in the other lane. He replied that he shouldn't have to because he (his car) is bigger and faster. I told him that, most times, I'm faster than the car traffic and am impeded by cars. He shrugged that off with a smirk.
I told him that he really should behave better towards cyclists and then he told me about how a friend of his (surprise) had had his car "cleated" by cyclist for "no reason". I said "Thats what happens when you threaten a cyclist's life with your car, and frankly, I'd do the same thing to your car if you pulled the sh*te on me you apparently pull on other cyclists." My cousin heard this and said "If a cyclist did that to our car, I'd want him (her husband) to harass them."
I was stunned......I basically just left it at that. The kicker is, it's not even a nice car.....it's a friggen 4 door Sunfire. (not that it matters).
Keith99
I thought this article was ok. But what do you do with someone who doesn't want even to hear a cyclists side of things?
Over the weekend, I went to my Godson's fourth birthday party. His father, (my cousin's husband) and I were talking and the subject of cycling in traffic came up because it's know that I'm a person who enjoys riding in traffic. It sort of makes me the black sheep of the family. Anyway, this guy said that he would rather allow his son to get a tattoo at the age of 16 than ride in traffic. I have nothing against tattoos, but c'mon, 16?
That aside, he told me that if a cyclist passes him three times he passes them and moves as far to the right as possible as to harass the cyclist.
I asked him why he would do that as I couldn't believe what I was hearing. He replied that cyclists slow him down. I said why not just get in the other lane. He replied that he shouldn't have to because he (his car) is bigger and faster. I told him that, most times, I'm faster than the car traffic and am impeded by cars. He shrugged that off with a smirk.
I told him that he really should behave better towards cyclists and then he told me about how a friend of his (surprise) had had his car "cleated" by cyclist for "no reason". I said "Thats what happens when you threaten a cyclist's life with your car, and frankly, I'd do the same thing to your car if you pulled the sh*te on me you apparently pull on other cyclists." My cousin heard this and said "If a cyclist did that to our car, I'd want him (her husband) to harass them."
I was stunned......I basically just left it at that. The kicker is, it's not even a nice car.....it's a friggen 4 door Sunfire. (not that it matters).
The kicker sure fits my experience with problem drivers. I would say just under half of the problem drivers I have had the displeasure to interact with are in cars worth far less than most bikes. About half of the rest are in ego cars (Mercedes, BMW...). This may be the one (very small) area where the mentality if the drivers is like the mentality of racists. They really are at best average, most liely below, but they now have an excuse to feel better than someone else.
But otherwise the idea seems rather stupid. After all did you ever hear of a white man using the black bathroom or drinking fountian? (well perhaps if the white s only was broken). On the other side have you ever heard of a cyclist who uses a bikes only bike path who does not complain about others using it? If we were like racial minorities others would avoid the bikes only places like the plague.
Gurgus
I somehow forgot to mention that he seemed to think that brakechecking a cyclist was ok and even went so far as to suggest that he'd back up into a cyclist and run over their bike. I didn't really like this guy too much before and, after that conversation, I am developing a real distaste for the fat *******.
lilHinault
Let's pray for $5 gas so the fat ******* ends up walking!
Daily Commute
I just want to know why cars have intentionally been designed to hide the driver. . . .
Maybe because it's safer and more comfortable.
scarry
I agree with the article.
spandexwarrior
Dvr Fox said, "Do you specifically feel terrorized?" Yes. I've had people deliberately yell, throw things at me, gun their engines and tailgate me horrifically close, even when I'm going fast , people have nearly grazed me with their mirror (thankfully, you can duck when a pickup is about to mirror you). A friend of mine got side swiped by a car, and knocked off his bike, prolly deliberately. When he yelled at them, they came out of the car, beat the crap out of him and stole his wallet. I've had someone even come at me while making a left hand turn, while I was in the crosswalk and had the right of way-- they sped up and seemed to be aiming for me, because when I altered my course, they seemed to too; the only thing that saved my ass was the technique of trying to get parallel with the direction they were going. They really almost hit me. If I wasn't a fast smart rider, the outcome would have been worse. And don't say it's critical mass pissing them off, because critical mass has only been really going on here since April. It's just pure, sheer malevolence. Yeah, it's not comparible to racism and we should never take that platform. However, I do believe that "modeism" is quite real. Not all bad outcomes for cyclists are intentional. Some incidents happen because of the drivers addiction to speed or stupidity. There ARE definately some people who have an irrational hatred of cyclists and fear that all cyclists will park their asses in front of them and go five miles an hour. I always go fast and am courteous to traffic. In the end that doesn't seem to matter too much. Somehow, just the idea of bicyclists being on the road makes some people choke with rage and act like morons.
Daily Commute
. . . Yeah, it's not comparible to racism and we should never take that platform. . . .
We agree about something.
DnvrFox
Dvr Fox said, "Do you specifically feel terrorized?" Yes. I've had people deliberately yell, throw things at me, gun their engines and tailgate me horrifically close, even when I'm going fast <snip>
Okay. I am glad I don't live where you live.
That would be MOST unusual around here. But, almost everbody here has a bike of some sort in their garage, and a lot of folks even ride them.
MOVE!
Dchiefransom
Okay. I am glad I don't live where you live.
That would be MOST unusual around here. But, almost everbody here has a bike of some sort in their garage, and a lot of folks even ride them.
MOVE!
Maybe people need to be around jobs. Getting up and moving on a whim isn't a possibility for most in this country.
spandexwarrior
Yeah, I'm considering moving, actually. There are some complications with that though. Yet even if I left there I people I know and care about who will have to deal with the problem. There are getting to be more people on bikes here. We had some 60 show up at critical mass. Actually, I've known lots of people here who have started riding and then gave it up, do to either theft or other frustrations. There are days that nothing happens and I get general courtesy. I wave if someone does something nice like waving at me to go ahead at a 4 way stop, and other situations where people are nice to me. I don't want to give a negative impression of cyclists.
baiskeli
Cycling oppression = lynching and racism!!
Not to put too fine a point on it but come on, lets get serious.
noisebeam
While driving my car I feel more terrorized by the huge 4 wheel drive pickup following me 3 feet behind my bumper while going 70 miles per hour than I have ever felt terrorized while bicycling.
I felt very terrorized by the huge jacked up pickup driving ~2ft behind me at 28mph when I was cycling on a narrow lane, all the time honking and swerving size to side while screaming out the window I was an a-hole and they would run me over if I didn't move (uhh, I had nowhere to move to) - they were so close I could see the undersde of the bumper in peripheral vision without turning my head (I didn't turn head so as to ignore them) or using mirror. This lasted for a good 1/2mi stretch before they overtook me in next lane. Absolutely one of the most scarry ride moments.