Define "Cyclist"

cyclemanx

Not everyone who plays a piano is called a pianist.
Is a cyclist anyone who rides a bicycle, or is there more to it than that?
What's your definition of a cyclist?

Crankyfeet

Why aren't they?A motorist is someone who drives a motor vehicle... so I suppose a cyclist is someone who rides a bicycle.

But it could also be someone who believes that events go in cycles... or it could be the name for a list of cycs....

dgregory57

[QUOTE=cyclemanx]Not everyone who plays a piano is called a pianist./QUOTE]

They are by me.

American Heritage Dictionary: One who plays the piano.

Some other dictionaries have similar definitions, and add language like, especially proficient. So, there is a secondary meaning.

I would say that pianist has no inherent special meaning on level of ability, nor does cyclist.

Now, if you add qualifiers like proficient, or exceptional in front of either one, then it would indeed mean one that was especially talented at the craft.

It is silly to take any simple term and add to it a limitation that one must be a master of the skill to earn the title. That is the purpose of qualifying terms.

A cyclist is a cyclist as soon as they ride a bicycle. They become an avid cyclist, an accomplished cyclist, an Olympic cyclist, a touring cyclist, a racing cyclist, or a variety of other categories of cyclists by doing it often and/or well and/or by specializing... it doesn't make a first time cyclist anything other than a cyclist.

But, this is just one cyclist's opinion. Of course, perhaps I am only a cyclist in my own opinion.

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alienator

+1.

jhuskey

Say " where is my pianist" 6 times as quickly as you can while standing in a large crowd.

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Whenever I can't get excited about riding I just fantasize about someone else's bike.

reub2000

A cyclist is someone who considers bad weather to be 20mph winds.

Chavez

I define "cyclist" as someone who rides a bike PROPERLY - obeying the rules of the
road (well, mostly) and attempting to represent and promote bike riding in a positive manner.

I myself merely ride a bike on a daily basis.

TheDarkLord

So do you have a special word for someone who rides a bike, but not PROPERLY, and doesn't promote bike riding??

Pendejo

While we're splitting hairs (which in academia we call "conceptual analysis") I would submit that there has to be some degree of consistency and frequency established in one's bike riding in order to be able to call oneself a cyclist with a straight face. But don't ask me what those degrees are.

TheDarkLord

Com'on, it's so simple. Anyone riding a bike is a cyclist when on the bike. The same person is a motorist when driving a motor vehicle, etc.

tfstrum

Someone not afraid to wear cycling shorts and jerseys (road bike anyway).

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A person without an opinion is fairly safe, but seldom heard

Pendejo

Dark One, you are just no fun at all. You are also quibbling with someone WHO USED TO GET PAID TO ARGUE ABOUT THESE SORTS OF QUESTIONS. Now, then, let us proceed. The cause of our little contretemps is that there are two senses (or meanings) of the word "cyclist." The first is the one you are leaning on, the very limited one, in which anyone who is on a moving bike is a cyclist and anyone who is not on a moving bike is not a cyclist. No one would disagree with your use of that sense, especially a policeman describing an accident scene.

However, there is a second sense of the word "cyclist" which is much more interesting and which is what I thought we were discussing. That is the sense of the word "cyclist" in which it can be true of someone that he is a cyclist even though he is not now on a bike. (In academic terms, in this sense of the word "cyclist" being on a bike is not a necessary condition for being a cyclist.)

Now you might understand why I gave up philosophy in favor of helping my dog write books (www.dogtellsall.com).

cyclemanx

A long black please, and a bone for the dog.
Cyclist? Lets put it this way. If I wanted to become a lawyer (don't laugh). I wont achieve my goal without studying law. An apprenticeship and learning period is necessary to obtain any worthwhile qualification.
Two sugars please, and a knife and fork for Desmond.
Sure, we call any person riding a bike a cyclist, but, as Penjedo says, it's when we're not riding we tend to add experience and expertise to the equation.
More salt on the bone please.

TheDarkLord

You were a philosopher? Thanks for the warning Pendejo!

Hey, I was not trying to spoil your fun. But I see your point about the second sense meaning of cyclist.