Originally Posted by Brian Ratliff
Yawn...
Whatever you say, man. I kind of thought that you'd use this to attack me. Whatever.
Look't me everyone!!! I've got Cyclist Inferiority Syndrome! Do I get worker's comp for this?
I'm sorry you feel attacked. That was not my intent.
I'm just pointing out the irony of you denying the existence of a syndrome that your own words exemplify.
This is all evidently in bad faith. I cannot even post an honest response without it being pointed out that 1) I'm full of *****, and 2) I have some sort of undiagnosed disease that obviously puts me in a lower category than these hot ***** VC'ists.
Okay. I'll just ride my bike. I've got a 50 mile round trip commute through all sorts of roads to concentrate on. All this political posturing is just wasting my time.
Bad faith? What did I say that was in bad faith? You think I was dishonest? About what?
No one said you were full of ***** or have any kind of disease. I simply pointed out that your words indicate an attitude contrary to that of a vehicular cyclist and consistent with one who sees bicyclists as inferior to motorists on the roadway.
Can you honestly deny that your words demonstrate this?
I don't get why you're offended. If I believed that cyclists were inferior to motorists in the ways you've written about, then I would not be ashamed to admit this, or be offended when someone pointed it out.
I don't get why cyclists who believe that cyclists are inferior are so reluctant to admit they believe this.
See, I just found a nice new commute route yesterday which avoided most of this traffic stuff. HH, would you choose the nicer route with shoulders on all the roads and less traffic if it meant adding a mile on to your dinky little 5 mile route?
Probably not. When my purpose is utility-transportational (get to work, get home), I tend to take what I believe to be the faster route, period. Plus, I genuinely like the "traffic stuff" (except for waiting at red lights, but even that doesn't bug me as much as it used to).
When riding for recreational/health purposes, yeah, i'm likely to take the alternate routes.
Note that recreational rides can become utilitarian, like when I'm late getting home. Then "faster route" takes precedence.
Similarly, utilitarian rides can become recreational, if I have extra time.
It is simply amazing how much calmer things are when there is a bike lane on the road so that motorists and cyclists can cooperate without pissing each other off.
It's the space, not the stripe, that allows for that.
I know, noisebeam likes his 20 second honks and is deluded enough to think that this motorist is in the minority. Naw, he's not in the minority. Another generalization about people is that for every one person who takes action against an annoyance, there's 100 others that are rooting him on.
Who cares what they think? The more cyclists out there, the more they'll get used to it. The more cyclists out there in bike lanes, the more they'll get used to cyclists being out of the way, "like they should be."
If thinking that motorists are friendly until proven otherwise gets you through your day, good for you. But realize that this is a delusion. That's why you get honks and screaching tires and yelling. But, whatever works. I'm not going to step on your religion if you need it to steel yourself to ride. It's better that you ride than not.
You are confusing positive attitude, which is a requirement for vehicular-cycling, with religion. One can have a positive attitude without being religious. The vehicular cyclist must have a positive attitude about his place on the roadway relative to motorists. I don't mean it as an attack when I say you clearly do not have the requisite attitude. FYI.