Originally Posted by
cg1985
I somewhat like the idea of holding up regular traffic. "cycloning" and "corking" and "Die-ins" For safety purposes it is almost necessary when dealing with large amounts of people. The message can have mixed interpretations, though for me, it's a demonstration of awareness to cyclists, and also by stopping traffic, you are holding them up, perhaps a show that we don't need to get everywhere so fast, and what slowing down can save not only cyclists, but pedestians and other motorists. It's a general lifestyle message.
This is the exact brand of self-important ******baggery that gives cyclists everywhere a bad name. If you can't share the road legally and with courtesy, stay the hell off the roads. There are plenty of us out there who ride predictably, obey traffic laws, and treat cagers with the exact common courtesy that we would like extended to us. It doesn't matter one whit what your opinion is about how other people live their lives. It is their right to live their lives how they see fit as long as it is within legal boundaries. Your lifestyle differs from just about everyone else's on the planet. What do you think about groups who send the message that they don't agree with people who live a *****exual lifestyle, and do so by harassing and generally making life harder on those who do?
However, the reality is that many people, particularly the critics who have long reaches in media outlets, will show that blocking traffic is a nusance, and they are causing people to be late, and disrupting city functions, and emergency vehicles. They will give it a negative spin, and because of the few cyclists who acted up in protest to citations or so on, that amplifies the negative feelings around the rides.
The reason they give it a negative spin is because you have given them an opportunity to do so by behaving like petulant children, breaking the law, and broadcasting to everyone within reach that you're nothing more than self-important asshats.
It is my opinion that CM is using bad tactics and strategy to try and prove a point that doesn't need to be proven. Cyclists would gain a lot more respect if every urban cyclist would simply behave rationally, predictably, and courteously to those they share the roadways with.
If you're trying to raise awareness toward urban cycling and cycle-commuting, it seems to me that a much more effective, pleasant, and politically savvy (because it is, after all, a political message you're trying to get across) would be to ride safely, obey traffic laws, and be friendly to motorists and pedestrians. Maybe hand out some bike maps of the city and literature for the local cyclists associations. The old saying "You catch more flies with honey" isn't just BS. People are much more likely to react in a positive manner and take up the mantle of your cause if they have reason to believe that it is a good one, and that those that support it are genuinely good people.