Vehicular Cycling (VC) - Discussion of "cyclist inferiority syndrome"

My co-workers (I only have 3) have thought at times I was taking risks, particularly my boss. My SO used to think this too. But after commuting several times a week most of the year, I don't get comments about it anymore. I mean, it cannot be that dangerous if I keep getting to work safely.
I fully agree with this.



You should be happy they are concerned about your safety, even if that concern is misguided. Instead you sound resentful.
Buuut, this part makes me wonder if you are who you really say you are...

...is that you, Mom? ;)

This may happen on rare occasions when the operator is feeling generous. However, there is a big difference between butting your way back into traffic with a 30-ton self-propelled crane and a bicycle.....

Yeah, the bike can do it faster and easier. :p

...Cyclists have a superior ability to adapt that auto drivers do not. They can go places that autos cannot, follow paths that autos cannot. So why restrict them to roads when there are good alternatives for them to use. Are we so hung up on "rights" that we forget the gifts that a bicycle gives us? Autos are causing major problems in America and the world today. I cited the crashes, killing tens of thousands of people a year, maiming people for life, and causing other underlying health problems (contributing to obesity and heart disease, for instance). I almost forgot the contribution of pollution and global warming, which are also major problems caused by auto traffic. Why should I feel inferior to an auto driver when I am in better health, have better fitness, and will probably outlive those auto drivers, especially the ones with road rage who have no outlet physically for their stress hormones? But that does not mean that I would trade the advantages of a bike to go places where the auto cannot go for the ego trip of saying I'm riding vehicularly. That, to me, makes no sense at all...

:beer: IMO, if one feels the need to emulate an automobile while on a bicycle, I'm thinking it is they who have the issues and not those of us who are quite secure with the fact our bicycle is is a bicycle. ;)

:beer: IMO, if one feels the need to emulate an automobile while on a bicycle, I'm thinking it is they who have the issues and not those of us who are quite secure with the fact our bicycle is is a bicycle. ;)

This is why I often reiterate that vehicular cycling does not mean that one treats the bicycle as an automobile; it means that one treats the bicycle as a vehicle.

Cyclists fare best when bicyclists, traffic engineers, and other drivers understand that the kinematics, dynamics and the perceptual, cognitive, and reactive abilities of a bicyclist on a bicycle have very much in common with that of drivers of other vehicles. Certainly one should observe that they have different masses, widths, and maximum top speeds, but these parameters do not generally override the other operational aspects, particularly on normal, typical streets.

Just ride in the traffic lane, young Luke, and ye shall be cured.


..and use JediJF mind tricks to argue your way into oblivion...

In reference to another thread that labeled JF and HH as Scientologists, I think it is way off.

JF is the Emperor, HH is Darth Vader.
Order, Empire, Machines, Rules, the Automobilization of outer space.
Everyone flowing and following as prescribed, nothing out of place. Until those pesky rebels ruined it all with their wanton tactics of riding on the road and on the bike path and in the woods! Gasp.

Problems with the Empire's theory of order and their brand of logic became clear when the fuzzy little Ewoks (who had no inferiority complex about not being taller, bigger, meaner, or cars) trounced their a****. Clearly riding speeder bikes according to the rules of VC didn't really help in the forests of Endor, where adaptation to surroundings and doing as the locals do - off road, on the path, on the road, would have served them better.

Luckily the resistance was able to bring down the HH wall of words force field and destroy the VC Star.

The battle with the VC Empire has not been without its costs. Hundreds, thousands, (we'll never know) have been tired by the constant quibbling and skirmishes. Many have moved away from the forum to isolated little progressive planets (portland, seattle maybe?) where they can shop at the coop and ride their speeder bikes in ways that make sense in an adaptable peaceful world, where mechanized transport and speeder bike transport are finding ways (in slow but easy baby steps) to live in peace. Still others tune out, preferring to ride instead of debate with the Dark Side.

Have you ever driven in a motor vehcile with someone who felt uncomfortable in traffic?
They are often timid, give up ROW when they shouldn't, may drive far right to stay aware from fast passing or oncoming cars, they don't negotiate and move assertively into gaps, wait for them instead. It can be scary as a passenger. They show a fear of other cars.

Have you ever driven in a motor vehicle with somone who was confident and safety focused in traffic?
They use eye contact, negotiate merges, signal, trust but verify, plan ahead, etc.

Al

..and use JediJF mind tricks to argue your way into oblivion...

In reference to another thread that labeled JF and HH as Scientologists, I think it is way off.

JF is the Emperor, HH is Darth Vader.
Order, Empire, Machines, Rules, the Automobilization of outer space.
Everyone flowing and following as prescribed, nothing out of place. Until those pesky rebels ruined it all with their wanton tactics of riding on the road and on the bike path and in the woods! Gasp.

Problems with the Empire's theory of order and their brand of logic became clear when the fuzzy little Ewoks (who had no inferiority complex about not being taller, bigger, meaner, or cars) trounced their a****. Clearly riding speeder bikes according to the rules of VC didn't really help in the forests of Endor, where adaptation to surroundings and doing as the locals do - off road, on the path, on the road, would have served them better.

Luckily the resistance was able to bring down the HH wall of words force field and destroy the VC Star.

The battle with the VC Empire has not been without its costs. Hundreds, thousands, (we'll never know) have been tired by the constant quibbling and skirmishes. Many have moved away from the forum to isolated little progressive planets (portland, seattle maybe?) where they can shop at the coop and ride their speeder bikes in ways that make sense in an adaptable peaceful world, where mechanized transport and speeder bike transport are finding ways (in slow but easy baby steps) to live in peace. Still others tune out, preferring to ride instead of debate with the Dark Side.


Star Wars analogy ftw!

Star Wars analogy ftw!

Feel the Dark Side. Succumb to my statistics.
Yes, yes. The Forester is strong in you, young Padawan.

The only way to save your friends is to join me. If they keep riding as they do they will be dead before the day is through. You are superior to them. Do not succumb to your emotions. Do not succumb to the inferiority of the cyclist.





EMPEROR
Your cause is lost. And your friends in the
bike lane will not survive. There is no
escape, my young apprentice. The AC Alliance
will die...as will your friends. The automobile will triumph. Cyclists will ride vehicularly.

[snip]

EMPEROR
If you will not be turned, you will be
destroyed.

Blinding bolts of words, evil, twisted, selective, outdated statistics, shoot from the
Emperor's mouth at Luke. Even in his surprise, the young cyclist
tries to use reason to deflect them. At first he is half
successful, but after a moment the words and statistics are coming
with such speed and power the young cyclist shrinks before them, his
knees buckling.

EMPEROR
Young fool...only now, at the end, do you
understand.

Luke is almost unconscious beneath the continuing assault of the
Emperor's verbage. He clutches his handlebar to keep from falling
into the arterial as the twisted verbage of the Emperor's semantical arguments tear through him.
Books begin falling upon him. Hundreds of copies of 'Effective Cycling', each tome
weighing on him, crushing him even more.

EMPEROR
Your feeble skills are no match for the power
of the vehicular cyclist. You have paid the price for
your lack of vision.

Luke writhes on the road in unbearable pain, reaching weakly up
toward where HH stands watching. A tractor trailer bears down upon him.


I didn't change it all that much...

that is eerie. *shudder*

I didn't change it all that much...
But, you have chosen wisely!

But, you have chosen wisely!

Yes, yes I did.
But there is no try, VC or do not.

Have you ever driven in a motor vehcile with someone who felt uncomfortable in traffic?
They are often timid, give up ROW when they shouldn't, may drive far right to stay aware from fast passing or oncoming cars, they don't negotiate and move assertively into gaps, wait for them instead. It can be scary as a passenger. They show a fear of other cars.

Have you ever driven in a motor vehicle with somone who was confident and safety focused in traffic?
They use eye contact, negotiate merges, signal, trust but verify, plan ahead, etc.

Al
Mostly I've ridden with people who scare the bejesus out of me with their speed and lack of attention to what's going on around them.

Mostly I've ridden with people who scare the bejesus out of me with their speed and lack of attention to what's going on around them.
Those too of course, certainly more of them than the dangerously timid. But I find both extremes are scary to ride with.
Al