I just read an article titled "What’s the Worst Thing About Road Cyclists?". It's more than a year old, but the level of idiocy that it presented made me want to respond.
The summarized list of annoyances and my answers:
- Disobeying traffic laws - mostly guilty as charged, too many cyclists, including myself disregard traffic laws
- Being arrogant and elitist - WTF? A cyclist has achieved a higher level of performance through effort, much like any other athlete, or musician, or scientist. Does being proud of it make us arrogant? Or is it simply because cyclists take up half a meter at the edge of the road? I suspect the latter one.
- Equipment and clothing - Seriously? Maybe while you are at that, get annoyed at hipsters, or even at people driving nicer cars than you. People, get a life!
- Terrorizing others on multi-use paths - It's a MULTI-USE path. Cyclists use it together with roller-skaters and joggers. So we can also consider the skaters terrorizing the cyclists, or the joggers annoying everyone. Accept and share, don't consider it your own private property.
And now for that annoys cyclists:
- Stopping/parking their cars in cycling lanes
- Riding motorbikes on cycling/recreational tracks
- Stopping and chatting on cycling and recreational tracks
- Slowly strolling 2 to 4 abreast on cycling and recreational tracks
- Honking and cursing at cyclists on roads that don't have a cycling lane
- Riding a motorbike directly in front of a cyclist at same speed so the exhaust fumes go directly into the cyclists face
- Broken glass and garbage on any surface where cyclists will pass
I made a poll on my website. If you wish, choose your biggest annoyance here:
http://www.officecyclist.com/2013/11/discussion-and-poll-cyclist-seem-to.html
The commenters have also added the following gripes
- car drivers turning right and ignoring cyclists
- car drivers turning right without using the blinker
- cyclists/joggers in the cycling lane riding in the wrong direction and not yielding the right of way
The summarized list of annoyances and my answers:
- Disobeying traffic laws - mostly guilty as charged, too many cyclists, including myself disregard traffic laws
- Being arrogant and elitist - WTF? A cyclist has achieved a higher level of performance through effort, much like any other athlete, or musician, or scientist. Does being proud of it make us arrogant? Or is it simply because cyclists take up half a meter at the edge of the road? I suspect the latter one.
- Equipment and clothing - Seriously? Maybe while you are at that, get annoyed at hipsters, or even at people driving nicer cars than you. People, get a life!
- Terrorizing others on multi-use paths - It's a MULTI-USE path. Cyclists use it together with roller-skaters and joggers. So we can also consider the skaters terrorizing the cyclists, or the joggers annoying everyone. Accept and share, don't consider it your own private property.
And now for that annoys cyclists:
- Stopping/parking their cars in cycling lanes
- Riding motorbikes on cycling/recreational tracks
- Stopping and chatting on cycling and recreational tracks
- Slowly strolling 2 to 4 abreast on cycling and recreational tracks
- Honking and cursing at cyclists on roads that don't have a cycling lane
- Riding a motorbike directly in front of a cyclist at same speed so the exhaust fumes go directly into the cyclists face
- Broken glass and garbage on any surface where cyclists will pass
I made a poll on my website. If you wish, choose your biggest annoyance here:
http://www.officecyclist.com/2013/11/discussion-and-poll-cyclist-seem-to.html
The commenters have also added the following gripes
- car drivers turning right and ignoring cyclists
- car drivers turning right without using the blinker
- cyclists/joggers in the cycling lane riding in the wrong direction and not yielding the right of way