Originally Posted by noisebeam
breaking laws is not excuse to avoid muscle use.
I'm having trouble with that part, too.
I've been riding bicycles my whole life, but I've only been doing it "seriously" (and I use that term loosely) for the last couple months. I'm surely the least experienced cyclist in this thread.
But from what I've learned so far, here's my philosophy:
There are plenty of folks out there who believe my bicycle and I belong on the sidewalk or on some recreational bike trail to nowhere, but certainly not on the streets of my city. If I behave in a way that suggests that I am doing anything other than operating a street legal vehicle in a lawful manner, I think I've done myself and other cyclists a disservice. If I bend or ignore the rules of the road, I perpetuate the misguided notion that cyclists are irresponsible intruders in the exclusive realm of automobiles. Sure it's unfair that individual motorists can be as inept, distracted and aggressive as they want, without calling into question whether cars should be allowed on the streets. Sadly, cyclists don't enjoy that luxury. Kurtis Blow might describe this situation as "the breaks."