Originally Posted by
Robert Foster
I could let it go except for a few things. Do they Cork at CM rides? Do they run red lights? Do they ride on the side walk? Do they go the wrong way on one way streets? If the answer is yes whatever good they do as a party they destroy to those of us who have to commute with the people that see them doing this every day. It is a reflection on the rest of us. Picture 500 to 1000 motorcycles doing the same thing? How about a fleet of Quads on our bike path? Maybe 700 low riders blocking the freeway every month?
And what if the answer is "No" to all your questions? If it is, then it enforces what people do every day while they commute on a bike, like me, unless narrowminded cyclists are like narrow minded drivers and have a blindered view of all CMs because of zero or localized experiences with them. You like to talk about wider responsibility of CM riders who might make things worse for you, yet you have no problem not taking responsibility for the dickheads who give CM a bad name in your area, and also globally. How does that double standard work, exactly? Don't complain about CMs that run in other areas with no problem. Why don't you go sort out the ones in your area with trouble makers instead? CM isn't the problem, people are the problem. At the same time, it's not ok for lots of cyclists to legally ride their bikes ONCE a month, but you're saying it IS ok for motorists to turn roadways into parking lots, twice a day, 6 days a week, AND pump tons of smog into the air that EVERYONE has to breathe in? More selective logic.
Yes they are having a party and yes they have fun, in fact in San Diego they often start at a liquor store. Is there a difference? What if once a month pedestrians got together and blocked access to bike lanes in mass? They could still be having fun and it would get people off of the sofa but if you are trying to get to class or work on your bike, car or Bus the line has been crossed. As it has been said your freedom to do what you want ends at the tip of my nose. If your freedom restricts my freedom it will cause conflict. If the generic you doesn’t care how it effects me then you can’t expect me to support your movement?
Again, if you don't care that your local CMs ruin it for everyone else, why should I care that you don't like our local ones that DON'T cause problems?? Makes no sense. How is it you don't see that your "logic" points in both directions, and you are oblivious to your end of the bargain?
Debate is always good but civil disobedience is always going to cause a division. In this case it has caused a division between cyclists in many places. If the CM people don’t care what it is doing to others they shouldn’t expect others to care what their point is. The numbers have tapered off in many California cities and I am sure they will continue to decrease because that is how a leaderless movement always goes. But while I support seeing people riding bikes I do not consider CM as part of the solution but rather part of the problem with trying to get city support for Bicycles as transportation.
Riding a bike is not civil disobedience. Being a dickhead on a bike is no difference than a dickhead in a car, but conveniently, an idiot in a car doesn't condemn every motorist, yet an idiot on a bike condemns every cyclist. Don't see the logic behind that either. Maybe CMs are tapering off because people can't be bothered doing anything but riding a bike? Advocacy means more than just riding a bike, sorry. Maybe dealing with idiots on bikes the same we idiots in cars are dealt with is too much effort? Why does there need to be a leader to a CM ride? Who's the leader of auto traffic? Who's in charge of the daily traffic jams? You want leadership? Lead by example. Nto a lot of glory, pay is low, but then that's what the majority of motorists do when they obey the traffic regulations, right? Explain how that process wouldn't work on a bike? That's rhetorical of course, because we both know it DOES work. It works every time you stop at a sign, signal lane changes and stop at red lights on your bike. Same way people do it in CMs. If people aren't doing it in your area, what are YOU doing to fix that? Nothing? Condemn CMs globally? Both I think.
In no way do I feel everyone at a CM ride in a militant. But they foster militants and by association resistance rather than acceptance. Remember if fellow cyclists are resistant then they must be doing something wrong if they are looking for any community support. Yes CM needs to change and maybe if they had a leader or an organization people could negotiate with we could find some common ground. But you can’t negotiate with a herd.
CMs don't foster militants. Lazy CM participant ALLOW militants to operate where they think they can hide. Turn their asses over to the cops just like you'd do if you saw a car running red lights, driving dangerously or speeding. Fellow cyclists are resistant because they are lazy, and they're just using the troublemakers as an excuse to stay that way. Cyclists might not like the trouble makers in CM rides, but they're too lazy to do anything about it. They want someone else to come fix the owie. Just like cops and regular motorists do all the time with trouble motorists. The "system" is officially set up to do that with motorists, and according to the law, it's also set up to do exactly that with/for cyclists too. Problem is, people don't see it that way. Motorists don't see it that way. Cops don't see it that way. Even cyclists don't see it that way. As a supposed advocate, on whatever level, of cycling, one would think it was in the best interests to address that mindset. To fix that mental issue. To remind everyone that cylists ARE vehicles under the letter of the law and are subject to the same restrictions and priviledges as any other vehicle on the roads.
Holy ****! That's EXACTLY what CM is about in the first place! Imagine that! So, if CM is accomplishing exactly the OPPOSITE of what it was started for, then it's broken, and because it's a "thing", it didn't break itself. People broke it. Turn your computer off, and go address the people that broke it. Make things better instead of trying to remove something that works great in other places where cyclists act like vehicular traffic. People are getting lazier on every level, and fatter as a result too. Everything is push button, or insta, or pay someone to do it for me. "
Well, we could fix CM in our area, but that would mean I'd have to get off my chair-shaped ass and actually do something more than whine about CMs on bike fora. Nah, get rid of the CMs, problem solved. Buuurp." Take responsibility. It doesn't need leadership, it needs less apathy. It needs less laziness.