Originally Posted by Bekologist
I'll bet there are more than a few urban city cyclists that are just as mad at discourteous drivers and maybe it shows?, maybe she should bike a bit in portland and get a feel for how it is riding around a bunch of idiot cagers. I don't see many cyclists hitting peds in crosswalks, that's just part of the urban street dance.
And there's the problem in a nutshell. It's the attitude that comes from viewing cycling downtown as "the urban street
dance" justified by not seeing "many" cyclists hitting peds in crosswalks, and because we have to deal with all the "idiot cagers" (not taking responsibility for our own behavior in leading to the unpleasant interactions with "idiot cagers"). The close calls, the cutting off incidents, those don't count. Since there aren't many actual "hits", what's your problem? Besides even if a ped is hit by a cyclist, it's not like anyone is going to get killed.
As long as urban street "dancers" continue to view urban cycling like this, cycling in general will continue to get a bad rap from Mrs. Ratliff and everyone else.