Originally Posted by John Forester
...the anti-motoring bicycle advocates chose to base their strategy on the system that was invented by motorists to treat cyclists as incompetent children in order to make motoring more convenient.
I've always said that bicycling advocates that prefer various bikeways should be free to have what they want, if they are willing to pay for it and if it doesn't interfere with other cyclists' rights to use the roads they are accustomed to. The fact that motoring interests are their allies in this can only be a plus for them.
However, when cyclists are told they are not competant enough to use the roadway and must get off the road onto a sidepath or any other facility, this is over-protective nannying at it's worst.