Saddle Monkeys
Should we stop using the word ‘cyclist’?
So asks Laura Laker in the pages of the Guardian, thereby adding to our collection of classic sentences from said newspaper. This is promptly followed by another contender:
As the repair man rummaged around in my gas oven, I tried to explain something to him about cyclists.
Which perhaps conveys a flavour of what follows.
Stopping using the term “cyclist” has been up for debate since an Australian study last week found 31% of respondents viewed cyclists as less than human.
Specifically, a minority of motorists have been known to indulge in “humorous references to violence against cyclists,” which is entirely unwarranted, apparently, and must not be allowed to continue.
It is easy to dehumanise people who cycle… because they often dress differently and move in a mechanical way, and drivers cannot see their faces… Public references to violence against cyclists are not uncommon, and rarely given the same condemnation as, for example, violence towards women or bullying.
It occurs to me that cyclists are more likely to be the subject of unkind humour if their behaviour, not their chosen outfit, is causing a problem, or is perceived as such. And note the bold conflation of actual violence with merely joking about it.
Perhaps one small step could be to think carefully about the language we use. We could do as Sarah Storey suggests in her new role as Sheffield’s cycling and walking commissioner: have one word for people who cycle for transport, another for people who cycle for sport – and remember that we are all people, no matter how we use the roads.
Well, courtesy towards other road users is a necessary social lubricant and, generally speaking, something to be encouraged. Readers are of course welcome to speculate as to whether changing the word cyclist to people who cycle for some particular purpose about which I’m supposed to care will make anyone’s journey more fragrant, harmonious and morally uplifted. It may also be worth noting Ms Laker’s tacit assumption that only drivers are in need of behavioural correction, as if cyclists were faultless and incapable of being inconsiderate. Which in turn hints at what may be a factor in some motorists’ limited sympathy for People Of The Pedal.
Via Orwell & Goode.
The problem cyclists are those who conceive of themselves as urban warriors.
There are badly-behaving Mr Toad drivers, but they’ve been flagged in the culture for 100+ years as Mr Toad drivers, and driver education tries to nip it in the bud. The urban warrior cyclists on the other hand, see themselves as fighting the good fight against the Mr Toads, even if it looks pretty 50-50 to neutral onlookers.
The warrior cyclists are all the more on their high horse, to mix a metaphor, because they can recast petty disputes over square yards of tarmac as a crusade for environmentally friendly Jane Jacobs urbanism against the suburban gas-guzzlers.
Take a cue from the people who drive tanks: bikers and pedestrians are properly referred to as ‘crunchies’.
As a truck driver, though, I believe I shall settle for hooking up a snow plow blade and going about my business.
What the coach is doing is flagrantly illegal under U. S. Federal law.
I beg to differ. ‘Crunchies’ are mechanized infantry. The ones you mentioned are ‘squishies’.
Does the original author think that if we stop using the term “cyclist” we will think of them in some different way? That would be gruesome if true, because it would apply to all things.
A political party of the really extreme right could call itself “The Centrist Party We All Vote For” and it would come true? We could stop calling it the electric chair — call it “the fun seat” say — and support for capital punishment would rise?
The reality is that language doesn’t shape thought in that way. For a start we can, and do, reason without using words. Moreover we apply our emotions to words, not vice versa. So if I don’t like cyclists, calling them speople on bikes won’t change my view on them, it’ll merely carry my dislike across to another word.
As the repair man rummaged around in my gas oven, I tried to explain something to him about cyclists.
Worst. Porno. Ever.
So if I don’t like cyclists, calling them people on bikes won’t change my view on them, it’ll merely carry my dislike across to another word.
It does sound rather implausible, a glorified make-work project. And judging by this small sample, cyclists aren’t entirely swayed by the idea that the word ‘cyclist’ is the cause of their ills.
The urban warrior cyclists on the other hand, see themselves as fighting the good fight against the Mr Toads, even if it looks pretty 50-50 to neutral onlookers.
Well, quite. My own impression is largely based on country roads and especially groups of cyclists. The grouping does, I think, tend to engender a certain disregard for other road users.
At times, the obliviousness is quite extraordinary – to a degree that suggests wilful obstruction. On one occasion, at a junction near Chatsworth House, a group of six or seven cyclists decided to stop and chat, and laugh, at length, grouped abreast so as to obstruct the entire lane, and seemingly indifferent to both opportunities to move on and to the growing queue of cars trapped behind them. This went on for some time, maybe 30 seconds or so, an eternity in traffic time, until a lively sounding of horns reminded them of the normal courtesies. No acknowledgement of error was forthcoming. If anything, the air was one of petty triumph.
[ Edited. ]
I am a cyclist, a pedestrian and an occasional driver. As a driver, I know that I have been careless around cyclists. Because of that, I know to be very careful around drivers.
When I go cycling, it is generally around Vancouver. I normally ride in traffic but I do plan my route to minimize my interaction with drivers. Also, I try to be courteous towards drivers (it seems safer that way). Since I always ride on roads, I constantly watch for dangers (hazards on the road, car doors, drivers/pedestrians/cyclists entering the roadway from the right, etc.) and plan accordingly. I have noticed quite a few drivers that actually look for cyclists and will wait for me to pass. They always get a wave in thanks for their attention and consideration. I do not wear earbuds or listen the music, etc., while riding so that I can hear vehicles coming up behind. I pay close attention to who is passing me, the frequency and the manner and, where possible, move over to make passing me easier.
I ride by myself and I completely understand the hostility towards cyclists that block the road. Group rides should be single file and I too get pissed off at those cyclists that ride shoulder to shoulder or who seem oblivious at the possibility that someone else might actually want to use the space with them (like the couple I ran into yesterday, or the girl that nearly rode head on into me today). Too many times I have had to dodge cyclists talking on their phones, taking selfies and/or recording video.
Of course, I do ride through the odd stop sign (and traffic light) where it is safe to do so. I have also noticed that drivers tend to expect me to run a 4 way stop sign, and they often wait for me to do so. They seem quite confused when I stop and wait for them to proceed (I follow driver rules in such situations) before I take my turn. Of course, if it is safe (i.e. there are no cars approaching), I will slow down but generally not stop for a red light or a stop sign. I know some drivers get upset at that. I am sorry that they have to stop (traffic laws and licenses and all that) but if the situation is safe, I am going to proceed.
Too date, I have been knocked off my bike by a pedestrian walking in a bike lane. That caused me to smack the back of my head on the concrete path (no helmut then). I woke up in the hospital with a hell of a concussion and required some staples to the back of my head. I had another pedestrian look at me as I approached before he then stepped out in front. That required immediate evasive action to avoid hitting him. That pissed me off and led to a physical encounter with him (which didn’t work out well for him so I doubt he will ever do that again). As a result, I tend to avoid bike lanes (the segregated, walled-in kind) nowadays because I find them more dangerous than riding in traffic (they are so narrow and often filled with riders of various ability and focus).
I have had an altercation with one driver (same driver on 2 separate occasions in 2 different parts of Vancouver) who wanted to yell and scream at me while I was cycling. I had no idea what that was about but each time he was very irate and aggressive about something and then he just ran off. I have had other drivers cut me off by making unsignalled right-hand turns as I am approaching to pass. I have a habit of smacking the car hoods to get their attention (and the dents are there to remind them). I often have drivers pull onto the shoulder to pass driver(s) waiting to make a left turn, and who do so with out bothering to check whether it is safe to do so (one driver apologized profusely to me, which was nice). I have learned to watch traffic to anticipate that.
I could go on and on but I think you get the point. I know that cyclists often piss drivers off, and sometimes I may act like one of them. At least I am starting to look good (better?) in my spandex.
I would have said “Pedal Vermin”.
He’s been diagnosed with the DSM-IV personality defect of narcissism.
I remember when they were just called arseholes.
Congratulations to your sister!
And judging by this small sample, cyclists aren’t entirely swayed by the idea that the word ‘cyclist’ is the cause of their ills.
Yes, a smokescreen for poor driving, as seen in this video, that has everything summed up by the driver. The whole video has lots of smokescreen (and instant karma) if you have the time.
as seen in this video,
[ Triggering intensifies. ]
as seen in this video,
I’ve now fallen down a rabbit hole of Why Cyclists Have A Terrible Reputation compilation videos. Curse you, Muldoon.
Setting aside the Ducking-And-Diving Stealth Contingent – who seem determined to make their trajectories impossible to predict by other road users (or indeed pedestrians, or even the most powerful supercomputer) – what grates are the, as it were, political cyclists, the ones who seem to relish obstructing and frustrating other people, as if they were making some selfless and heroic point.
…the ones who seem to relish obstructing and frustrating other people, as if they were making some selfless and heroic point.
That, and their utter contempt of the traffic laws by which they are supposed to abide. By contrast, where I live and travel, frequently on two lane roads, there is an abundance of agricultural vehicles which, by the laws of my corner of South Flyoverlandia, have the right of way. All of these vehicles are slow, sometimes take up most of both lanes, but I have yet to see one oblivious to traffic behind and which didn’t pull over when possible to give way to let others behind pass, signal to let the vehicles behind know it is safe to pass, or otherwise try to accommodate faster traffic.
There is no reason, other than rampant dickweedery, why members of the organ donor class who form road clots as in the video can’t do likewise and form a single (even double) line and let normal humans pass.
Curse you, Muldoon.
agricultural vehicles… are slow… but I have yet to see one… which didn’t… try to accommodate faster traffic.
That’s been my experience too. I’ve seen plenty of mutual acknowledgement, which goes a long way.
what grates are the, as it were, political cyclists,
Y’all are aware of the Critical Mass movement, yes? Not sure where that is on people’s radar as some fairly conservative friends of mine who cycle a lot seem oblivious to the more nefarious aspects of this organization/group/whatever.
Y’all are aware of the Critical Mass movement, yes?
There is, or was, a monthly clustering of them at the local university. The claim is that “resisting the problem culture of the car” – i.e., gratuitously blocking traffic for a couple of hours or until the police eventually move them on – is some noble environmentalist crusade; but I see the usual pile of misfits, inadequates and career-agitators, for whom any cause will do as long as it entails grandstanding and being an irritation to random people.
[ Added: ]
On what I assume is the main UK website, they present themselves as right-on and happy-clappy, as if it were only a good-natured lark, a kind of mobile outdoor rave. But if you poke through their own videos, you’ll see them gleefully using force of numbers to obstruct and frustrate everyone else for as long as they can get away with it – blocking major roads, riding on pavements, causing minor accidents and harassing drivers, and generally exulting in the sense of mob power.
Same old same old.
This should go well.
Speaking as a vehicular cyclist who is infinitely more likely to be seen wearing tweed than Lycra, it is probably worth pointing out that when a chap on a bike encounters an inconsiderate driver he is much more likely to be (very briefly) in fear for his life than suffering irritation as the motorist encountering an inconsiderate cyclist is wont to do. This probably contributes to the radicalisation. As does the hyperbole of the sort seen in some of the posts above. Yes, some of the holier-than-thou types can be as irritating as the le Tour de Suburbia types, but I would contend that so are the “cyclists are a lower form of life” mob.
causing minor accidents and harassing drivers…
The video embedded in that website includes a scene that starts around 13:19 that is likely to raise a few questions about their behaviour, not to mention an eyebrow or two.
Firstly, the video editor(s) evidently thought the scene so important that it needed emphasising with a slow-motion effect as it starts off.
But what we are then treated to is the sight of four tall, fairly well-built scruffy-looking white men blocking in the driver of a car who soon turns out to be a well-dressed black woman on her own.
While I am not suggesting the Critical Mass activists in that scene are racists (I don’t imagine they are), it is nevertheless striking how the optics do not cast them in what I suspect most people would consider to be a good light.
Yet rather than leave this shameful embarrassment to their cause on the cutting room floor of the editing suite, they seem to actually have seen it as some kind of victory worthy of celebration.
… and generally exulting in the sense of mob power
While the woman gives as good as she gets, you’re still left with the image of four fairly big guys behaving like the worst kind of football hooligan, jeering and cursing at a lone woman who they have almost completely surrounded and whose path they have blocked.
One of the men seems to be complaining that she ran into him deliberately – but given that the video shows the cyclists swarming around the moving traffic such a minor collision must have been inevitable (and not a deliberate attempt to knock someone down, which seems to be their assumption).
The fact that all this is going on while dozens more of them are sweeping by whooping and cheering only makes it worse.
How they could ever imagine that this ugly, thuggish and barbaric episode would actually gain sympathy for their cause is quite the mystery.
How they could ever imagine that this… would actually gain sympathy for their cause is quite the mystery.
Well, yes, and much the same applies to the broader movement, or “unorganised coincidence,” or whatever those involved like to call themselves. Going out of your way to “outnumber the cars on the road” and aggravate other people – to make them late and miss appointments, flights, job interviews, etc. – isn’t an obvious way to make friends, or to persuade others of your imagined righteousness. Which may explain the shortage of sympathy among the wider public, on whom they like to impose.
But I’m sure the thrill of mob power is some compensation.
Y’all are aware of the Critical Mass movement, yes?
If you are not from South of the Line of Mason and Dixon, don’t be culturally appropriating “y’all”. However, regarding Critical Mass why is there never one of these around when you need it ?
Meanwhile, completely off topic, another charming and fetching young miss, a proud member of The Lunchables, offers us a new leftist casus belli*.
*(John Wayne Gacy was unavailable for comment)
another charming and fetching young miss,
Don’t fancy yours much.
fetching young miss
Unless she’s in clown college … oh wait, most colleges qualify so ignore that … that makeup is a warning, like the coloring poisonous frogs.
“all the while glaring and wagging his finger at me to not dare make the right turn I intended”
That sort of behavior is why I carry a collapsible baton in the car as an instructional tool.
Don’t fancy yours much.
Oh come on, now, you wouldn’t go arm in arm to war with her over a meme frog ? Turning Pepe into a clown is some serious Archduke Ferdinand level stuff.
(Meanwhile on the other side…)
“Gentlemen, hold your fire, don’t shoot till you see the whites, no reds, make that greens, red or green, oh the hell with it, shoot before the neon blinds you”
Oh come on, now,
Another blessed maiden to enliven your dreams.
Another blessed maiden…
Not nearly polychromatic and pierced enough to be taken seriously, I’m afraid.
Not nearly polychromatic and pierced enough to be taken seriously, I’m afraid.
Based on the video, the face needs no such accoutrements to warn off any would-be suitors.
Speaking of lovely madamoiselles, this comely charmer brings her A game to smashing the patriarchy via biohazard by bleeding in a men’s room.
Woke, man, woke. (finger snapping ensues)
this comely charmer brings her A game to smashing the patriarchy via biohazard by bleeding in a men’s room.
And once again the line between woke politics and mental illness shrinks to the thickness of a Rizla, as seen from space.
Meanwhile, the fabric of racism!
Trying to change the term is peak Orwell. And I guess they’ve never heard of the euphemism treadmill. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euphemism#Evolution
A few years ago, the Chicago NPR station posted a surprisingly reasonable article about cycling. http://www.wbez.org/series/curious-city/how-strictly-do-chicago-police-enforce-bike-traffic-laws-112992
Here’s the end:
Lowy lives in Uptown, but drives his cab all around the city. And over the years, he’s seen quite a few accidents of bicyclists hitting cars, cars hitting cyclists, cyclists hitting pedestrians. “A majority of them,” he says, “was not the car’s’ fault.”
[snip]
“Depending on the situation, bikes are a different story than cars,” Lowy says. He believes crowded and highly trafficked thoroughfares should be tightly enforced. But side streets, during off peak hours when there is little traffic, not so much.
“I’d be lying if I said I never disobeyed the law,” Lowy says. “[But] I don’t run red lights. I’ll run neighborhood stop signs, but I slow down dramatically and look…common sense is a big part of this.”
(finger snapping ensues)
I’m told finger snapping can trigger anxiety among woke snowflakes. Can we please use “jazz hands” instead?
I am sorry that they have to stop (traffic laws and licenses and all that) but if the situation is safe, I am going to proceed.
That’s interesting. Here in Ontario, regardless of whether you’re on a bicycle, motorcycle or in a car, you are obliged to follow the HTA. Sailing through a stop sign on a bike can in theory get you nailed just as badly as running a stop sign in a car (i.e. points off your license, etc.) In practice it’s rarely enforced, but it’s possible and I’ve seen it used to shut down aggressive cycling activists. In high school, a friend of mine decided to remonstrate with a pair of beat cops who warned him about running a red light on his bike, to the point that they simply charged him with running the red. The result was that when he got his driver’s license a year later he started three points in the hole.
Ok now, someone needs to fess up. Which group of people are submitting parody papers to embarrass publishers this time?
Ok now, someone needs to fess up.
It’s marvellous, isn’t it? In a demented and contemptible way, I mean.
Right, another episode of The Borgias and then I expire.
Play nicely. Use coasters.
It’s marvellous, isn’t it?
I should’ve known better than to think I’d encounter such a sterling example of Academia-speak before Our Gracious Host.
Right, another episode of The Borgias and then I expire.
The last time you did that I ended up binge watching the entire Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes oeuvre.
In practice it’s rarely enforced..
And yet, in this same Ontario, I’ve seen cops pull kids, under 12, over for double-riding while riding on the sidewalk.
And therein lies the rub: it’s entirely at the whim of the officer, which lends a certain capriciousness to the whole thing.
I should also note that in general in Ontario it’s not legal to ride bicycles or motor scooters on the sidewalk, any more than it’s legal to ride a motorcycle on the sidewalk. Again, indifferently enforced.
Can we please use “jazz hands” instead?
The ability to wave hands is abelist, so no, perhaps gentle ovine lowing ?
Marone !
Her mind is a raging torrent, flooded with rivulets of thought cascading into a waterfall of creative alternatives.
Sorry you folks up in The Great White North who have to wait a year to get your hip replaced because of budget woes, there is Important Research to be done.
I have this strange sense of deja vu.
I wonder if that might be because procedural driven research, what with that whole “reproducability” thing, can tend to prove or disprove some phony baloney theory ? Nah, couldn’t be, this lot are straight shooters.
Cyclist.
I spent nigh on thirty years of my life driving fast cars in competition (that’s despite my hailing from “some heathen backwater”* and having fuck-all money to spend on a dangerous hobby but making it happen anyway).
I suppose that makes me a racist.
*Band name.
I suppose that makes me a racist.
Better band name.
Heath N. Bakwaddrr – band name…misspelling was serendipitous so thought it best to keep it that way. Also note, a la Lynyrd Skynyrd or Molly Hatchet, no one in the band is named Heath or even Heathcliff…for obvious reasons. Some Heathen Backwater is an album name.
I should also note that in general in Ontario it’s not legal to ride bicycles or motor scooters on the sidewalk…
In general yes. Burlington, where I live, is the only municipality in Halton and one of only a few in Ontario that allows bicycles to ride on the sidewalk anywhere there are no bike lanes provided. Driving a bike on the sidewalks on the main street downtown is also prohibited. There are many more municipalites that allow children to ride on the sidewalks.
…no one in the band is named Heath or even Heathcliff…
Yes, but which one’s Pink?
They are all pink when getting out of the shower.