A couple questions have come up about my definition, particularly about my use of the terms: "regularly" and "want to" ... here's why I included them:

Regularly: because I have met many people who tell me, usually in May, that they are going to ride their bicycles this year. They've got one in the garage, and just need to pump the tires, and they'll be ready to go. Mid-June rolls around ... and they've finally got those tires pumped and ... they take the bicycle out for a ride ... around the block and back. That's OK ... good start! A week later, they do it again. They are enthused ... but something happens to the motivation over the next few days/weeks/months ... and they don't touch the bicycle again till next May.

I wouldn't call a person who did two rides around the block a year a cyclist. Perhaps a "bicycle rider" ... while they were on the bicycle ... but not a cyclist.

The line between "bicycle rider" and cyclist is a bit hazy and open to interpretation, but even if a person went out for a ride around the block once every couple weeks, or once a week, or a couple times a week, throughout the summer ... that could be "regularly" for them.


Want to: I included this because it addresses the attitude of a cyclist. If someone is somehow forced to ride a bicycle (i.e. a spouse feels he/she has to ride to win the approval of the other spouse), and does so the minimum required number of times to make someone else happy, that person probably doesn't ride regularly, nor willingly (and probably puts in the absolutely minimum effort) ... and again I would suggest that the person might be a "bicycle rider", while he/she is on the bicycle, but not really a cyclist.

Incidentally, if someone does happen to lose their licence and has to use an alternate method of transportation, I would suggest that the person could be a "cyclist" - after all he/she wanted to lose his/her licence, and carried out that desire by violating the law, and then he/she chose the bicycle as the method of transportation over other alternatives such as public transportation or walking. Therefore the "want to" part would apply.