> > "...simply because he was offended by my presence."
This. Many people do not consider us valid road users. Whether that's passive aggression like not giving us space, or active harassment, it stems from the idea that we're not "real," and don't have a right to be there. If you need a path to empathize with how many black people in America feel today, you might start with how you feel you're treated while riding your bike on public roads. Philip www.biketinker.com On Wednesday, July 13, 2016 at 11:57:52 AM UTC-7, Mark in Beacon wrote: > > Actually, badly behaving bicyclists are a tiny minority of what is a teeny > tiny miniscule minority in the first place. The truth is that bad cycling > etiquette is mainly that--bad etiquette, or at worst generally mostly a > danger to the cyclist. Whereas the radical monopoly that is our > transportation system breeds people that believe only motorized vehicles > belong on the roadways.Yesterday morning while on my way to work a van ran > me into the curb, on purpose, simply because he was offended by my > presence--the car in front of him was turning right, waited for me because > he thought I might go straight. I waved the car on and made my turn. > Apparently all too much for the van driver, who, as he was passing me after > the turn, veered his van into the shoulder directly in front of me, at > speed, just missing my front end. When I caught up with him two lights > later, his response was "Get on the f- sidewalk. You look like a f-ing > retard." Etc. So maybe he had just encountered a NYC messenger the other > day? I suppose that's a theory. > > Honestly, people can point to the bad behavior of some cyclists as the > reason for this or that, or why they ran me into the curb. And I certainly > believe it is important to maintain a civil and considerate approach to > riding my bicycle. My thoughts here are not meant to excuse cyclists who > ride like jackasses on public roads; I have little patience for it these > days. But do not kid yourself that bad cycling is why there is no > infrastructure money coming our way. > > It hardly needs to be said that we are all in on cars. Unfortunately, the > massive infrastructure this requires is getting to be too much now that we > are hitting diminishing returns in everything from extraction to technology > to our house of cards financial system. It is simply more than we can > afford at this point. Trying to retrofit this infrastructure to make it > "safe" for bicycles, a technology that, despite some headway, mostly in > compact city environments, we have decided is backward and not viable, and > an affront to progress, will never happen on a large scale. Many other > things are likely to happen meantime that will make it a moot point. > > The total centrality of cars in our lives, and our unshakeable belief in > the myths of eternal growth and eternal progress, blinds us to the ways the > radical monopoly transportation system corrupts everything, including time, > space, civility, resource allotment, and even the simple realization that > there are much more vulnerable road users out there. > > > On Wednesday, July 13, 2016 at 10:08:14 AM UTC-4, Kieran J wrote: >> >> And yet, a small minority of extremists can have a disproportionate >> influence on the broader collective - negatively or positively. >> >> Bad cycling etiquette is an ongoing barrier in securing better >> infrastructure for all cyclists, influencing public perception of cyclists, >> and enhancing civic safety in a broad sense. A blasé attitude about it >> only enables the problem. >> >> Maybe not everyone cares about those things, which is a shame. Maybe >> messengers and other arsehat showboaters prefer riding in dense, dangerous >> conditions for a cheap thrill. I've been hit before - that's plenty for me, >> thanks! >> >> KJ >> >> >> On Wednesday, July 13, 2016 at 9:09:20 AM UTC-4, Garth wrote: >>> >>> >>> That a movie, group or individual represents or could even remotely >>> represent the infinitely diverse population of people who engage in riding >>> a bicycle(let alone any activity) is a myth. >>> >>> >>> >> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
