I was standing on a street corner waiting for a city bus yesterday when I saw an intelligent-looking(1) cyclist on a road bike pull this stunt. I felt so ashamed I had to turn my back to him as he rode by. The drivers behind him HAD to think, "He cheated." What else are they going to think: "What a lucky guy! He's immune from the traffic laws that bind us poor clods to our brake pedals." I think not.

Face it: if we cyclists do things like this, and run red lights and stop signs, and ride on the wrong side of the street, we have no room to complain when non-cyclists start to try to make life difficult for us.

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(1) By "intelligent-looking" I mean his handlebars were not upside down, he was wearing a helmet, his fit to the bike was good, he was not carrying a boombox on one shoulder, etc.