Originally Posted by CyclinYooper .
I think the negative reaction your getting here, is due to the manner in which this entire post was delivered.
Think about the manner in which feedback is effectively delivered. Typically, coaching/feedback should only be delivered to the specific people to which it applies (I never thought I'd be pulling "work" talk into a cycling forum). If feedback is delivered "blanket" style, as in this post ("FYI, these cyclists we're breaking the law, so you all need to remember to obey the law" - forgive me for paraphrasing), it's very normal for the people that don't need feedback to react with a little outrage.
For example, if everyone in a classroom takes an exam honestly, except one cheating student, and the teacher comes in the next day and scolds the entire class ... 99% of the students are going to be like, "WTF? Why am I getting yelled at? I did everything right?!" The teacher should have have had a private discussion with just the cheater.
My assumption, from reading many posts on here, is that many of the posters are very concerned with health/safety, and therefore follow road law pretty closely. When I read the initial post, my gut reaction was, "thanks for the FYI, why are we being chastised for a bunch of NY riders." Maybe others reacted similarly?
In any case, it seems like perhaps you could have asked one of the cyclists what event they were riding and then contacted the event coordinator offline to express your concerns. Then the feedback is going to right people, the event riders may end up safer, and the motorists are happier too!
Scott
The initial post was intended to be a reminder to all cyclists in general. And what you said does make sense, but you have to understand that it works both ways. In other words, my post didn't point to anyone specific, so some of the reactions here seem to have been taken far too personally. There's nothing wrong with generalizing when it comes to safety on the roads because it affects all of us. As for anyone taking my words as "scolding" them, well, that's just silly. My initial post was calmy written without pointing a finger at anyone specific. I posted the same exact thread on another forum and quite a few of the members there agreed with me and actually supported what I wrote. In fact, some of them thanked me for creating the thread. Of course I got some similar reactions/responses similar to the majority here, but I'm guessing the members on the other forum are either older and have more experience as road cyclists because they were much more receptive overall compared to the folks here.
Now I guess I should just wait to be flamed for saying the members of the other forum are more mature....so predictable!