You hear them everywhere; the ignorant sots who want to degrade a whole community of cyclists because they saw one run a red light once. Blimey! If I had the power to throw drivers who tailgate, run red lights, fail to indicate, speed and fail to control their vehicles properly, off the roads then it would be a very lonely drive to work everyday!
I don’t get it. I really don’t. The hatred of which an increasing number of bad tempered, ill-mannered people direct at cyclists really perplexes me. Are cars really so important, really so necessary, really so invaluable to everyday Australian life that all cyclists must give way and abandon the roads because, according to these all seeing, all knowing “Kings of the Highway”, only motor cars are the correct sort of traffic which should use the complex byways which we need to transport ourselves around town everyday.
I’ve ridden bikes seriously, that is, on the roads, as a racing and leisure cyclist since I was ten years old. That gives me 34 years of experience as a cyclist and although I have not been as active in the last few years as previously, I think I have a far better insight into the world of a cyclist on the roads than do the ignorant masses who lock themselves in their steel cocoons everyday and implore the rest to get the hell out of their way.
Yeah, I’ve broken the rules when riding. I’ve jumped red lights. I’ve failed to indicate. I’ve ridden two abreast (although it is perfectly legal for me to do so, it’s just motorists who don’t realise it!). But everything I’ve done on a pushbike I have calculated. I have never run a red light simply to get where I am going more quickly. I’ve done it when no cars were present. The same for lack of indication and as for riding two abreast, I never rode down a street with bumper to bumper traffic and was arrogant enough not to single out and let the traffic flow more freely. My life depended on it! And this is the point which gets me.
I’ve heard all the fools and their arguments. You don’t pay registration. You don’t obey the road rules. Blah! I turn off after their first moronic statement. It’s to no point contradicting them. They don’t listen and I don’t understand why they want to whinge about cyclists to me when they know my whole life has revolved around the sport. Get a grip and get a life! There are more pressing issues to get upset about.
I will say this clearly. Most of the people I have ridden with over the years have obeyed the road rules. Yes, as in any pursuit there are those who thumb their nose at society and do things their own way and break the law. But they are in the minority when it comes to cycling. My comrades and I and the vast majority of cyclists obey the law for one reason. We want to get home alive!
I never take it for granted that a driver at an intersection will give way. Too many of them have broken the law and refused to do so putting my life in danger. I never take it for granted that enough space will be left for me by overtaking cars. Too many have run me close over the years. And I never run red lights anymore. Ever!
People who whinge about cyclists on the road don’t know what they are talking about. No one who has ever questioned me about cyclists on the roads and suggested in no uncertain terms that they are a menace have ever known the road rules properly. Not one in 34 years!
Those who whinge about cyclists the most are the ones with least credibility. Go back to your polluting, road wearing, screeching, rumbling machines and do as you will but watch out for us. We ain’t going anywhere anytime soon.
And and last but not least. If you have read this piece and still maintain antipathy towards cyclists, then come for a ride with me. As a car driver as well as a cyclist I see both sides of the coin. Maybe you should too.
Have a nice day.
Strange Notations From a Laborious Life 
2 responses to “Ignorance and Arrogance; The Battle on our Roads”
Several years back I bought a bike with the view of going for rides and maybe even eventually riding it to work. There's a good network of bike paths in Canberra but I soon found there were places where I had to ride on the road. Are you out of your F#K#^@ mind!!! Cars go flying past often within inches of you! I've never felt so vulnerable in my life, it's just crazy. I got rid of the bike straight away as it was in no way worth the risk. It's all well and good saying you have the right to ride on the road but that only gives you something to chat about while waiting at the pearly gates. Matt, people are stupid. Motorists, cyclists, pedestrians, sailors whatever and stupidity doesn't respect rights. It would be a lovely fluffy fairy tale world if everyone rode and drove respectfully and carefully but that world doesn't exist and never will because we are too stupid as a species. The reality is that cyclists that ride on the road have either a stubborn, naive or reckless disregard of their own safety. Madness!
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I haven't ridden on the roads proper for years now but it isn't quite as bad as it can seem at times. You learn the rhythm of the traffic and once you get out of town it is rarely a problem. Be aware of your surroundings out on the road and remember that not everyone will see you or care. Listening to the traffic is just as important as watching it. It is the cyclists who don't take care who are the problem and on a very rare occasion they are just unlucky. As are car drivers. It's the idiots who start talking of stuff they know nothing about that get to me. I stay on the bike paths although I could write a long post about their dangers too!
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