# Some Street Cyclists **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 7, 2009, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-street-cyclists/484797 "2009-02-07T11:14:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2009, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-street-cyclists/484797/161 "2009-02-17T17:25:09Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > Indeed I am. He needs a specific cite about the incident he mentions (and he’s pretty much admitted he can provide but won’t) and a cite for his contention that the group of people he’s slandering actually have a higher rate of causing injury, damage etc than usual. You gonna demand a cite from [catsix](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=10837974&postcount=12) as well? ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2009, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-street-cyclists/484797/162 "2009-02-18T02:43:01Z")
He would be able to provide a cite to the effect that something that hasn’t happened - but which he assumes will - how exactly? I’m not going to ask someone for a cite that they won’t be able to provide. I’m just going to accord their speculation the weight it deserves. If you mean am I going to ask him for a cite to the effect that some road users blow off stop signs then no I’m not because I absolutely accept that. It doesn’t have anything to do with my area of disagreement with this OP, so why you raise it, I don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-street-cyclists/484797/163 "2009-02-22T16:19:18Z")
> [@Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](#): > > You are a special kind of moron.They probably recognised you by the enormous pole sticking out of your arse. > > If any of this is even vaguely true, what’s preventing these “lurkers” already spreading this gossip? Or do they not read your local paper? Gosh I’ve always wanted to be Special. Iwondered how long it would be before you reappeared from the woodwork once again Pete,still smarting from the last time are we? As they say you can remove the **Petro** from the Grease but you cant remove the grease from the **Petro**. Sorry to disappoint you but my sexuality prohibits me having man on man sex with a robustly built E.European but its obviously aroused some fantasies in your mind… By the way how is your(deniable)boyfriend ? Are you a vampire yet ? Do tell cos we’re all so really interested. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-street-cyclists/484797/164 "2009-02-22T21:44:26Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > He would be able to provide a cite to the effect that something that hasn’t happened - but which he assumes will - how exactly? I’m not going to ask someone for a cite that they won’t be able to provide. And how, exactly, is **Lust4Life** supposed to provide a cite for an observed behavior? > [@](#): > > _If you mean am I going to ask him for a cite to the effect that some road users blow off stop signs then no I’m not because I absolutely accept that. It doesn’t have anything to do with my area of disagreement with this OP, so why you raise it, I don’t know._ You see no similarities between > [@Fucking Bicyclist](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fucking-bicyclist/486235/12): > > Soon, the bicycle people in their Lance Armstrong costumes will be out. They will ride down this hill in both lanes, and will not even pause at the stop sign or look for cars coming out of the other road. and > [@Lust4Life](#): > > [T]hey are playing at pretending to be pro racers they have absaloutley no awareness of what the fuck is happening around them. > They are bent over the handlebars staring straight ahead and going much faster then their reaction ability can handle resulting in everyone else in their vicinity having to get out of their way or risk a collision. ? Really? ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-street-cyclists/484797/165 "2009-02-22T22:11:12Z")
looks like somebody needs to go back and re-read just what cite is being asked for. Read for detail. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2009, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-street-cyclists/484797/166 "2009-02-23T00:24:16Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > And how, exactly, is **Lust4Life** supposed to provide a cite for an observed behavior?You see no similarities between and? Really? No, the OP makes broad slanders alleging _past and ongoing_ behaviour by certain types of cyclists and suggests they get others killed. I won’t accept this without a cite, and it is not an inherently unciteable proposition. \*\*Catsix \*\*is talking about one particular intersection. He says that there \*will \*be an accident there, which is inherently unciteable. He also says that certain road users blow off a particular stop sign. I don’t doubt that proposition. I think it inherently plausible. Unless the particular intersection has been the object of very specific study it’s not the type of thing that will be citeable. So for those two reasons, why would I ask for a cite for it? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2009, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-street-cyclists/484797/167 "2009-02-23T01:19:39Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > No, the OP makes broad slanders alleging _past and ongoing_ behaviour by certain types of cyclists and suggests they get others killed. Cyclists who exhibit such disregard to their surroundings do get implicated in crashes. What if there had been a pedestrian on [that sidewalk outside the Home Depot](http://mississauga.com/article/13184)? > [@](#): > > \*\*\*Catsix \*\*is talking about one particular intersection. He says that there \*will \*be an accident there, which is inherently unciteable. He also says that certain road users blow off a particular stop sign. I don’t doubt that proposition. I think it inherently plausible. \* And this accident ending in the death of someone other than a cyclist…isn’t? > [@](#): > > _why would I ask for a cite?_ It’s the same type of cyclist engaged in similar behavior. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2009, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-street-cyclists/484797/168 "2009-02-23T02:49:17Z")
Basically, **Lute** , when you indicate an understanding that: 1/ there is a difference between saying “bad cyclists are bad” or “some cyclists are bad” on the one hand and “cyclists who wear lycra and ride racing bikes are as a general proposition significantly dangerous” on the other, and that 2/ the OP is saying the latter not the former, and that 3/ the former is obvious and not requiring of further discussion or cites, and that 4/ the latter is highly dubious and I won’t accept it without cites you may become someone worth talking to more. Till then, you’re not displaying sufficient ability to understand nuance as to be worth debating with. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2009, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-street-cyclists/484797/169 "2009-03-07T16:59:07Z")
Bumping this one because an [article about urban street cyclists just came out in the NYT](http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/08/nyregion/thecity/08bike.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1), so I figured some of you might be interested. Granted, it’s kind of a fluff piece, but at least it shows that the issue is getting a higher profile. > [@](#): > > The essential conflict can be grossly caricatured like this: Guys dressed as if they are in the Pyrenees stage of the Tour de France try to set speed records as Italian tourists linger in the middle of the bridge to get a photo of their cousin, Paolo, backed by the Empire State Building. > > Bikers won’t stop, fearing they will lose a few tenths of a second off their times; and tourists from former Soviet republics confuse the phrase “Get out of the bike lane, you jerk” with “Enjoy your stay.” > > Confusion ensues, slowing down the furious bikers and dragging into the mix City Hall-area office workers who are just trying to get in a little lunch break walk-a-cise but are now risking loss of limb. > > Next comes another species of biker, which I call the Really Cool Biker, because they are really cool — usually younger than the Lance Armstrong types, wearing skinny jeans and a windbreaker imprinted with, say, the name of a bar or a bowling alley, and riding a sleek, fixed-gear frame bike that I myself am too uncool to even adequately describe. > > Now, as the Tour de France vs. the tourist melee is exploding, the Really Cool Bikers attempt to skirt the scrum of tourists, using the moment of chaos as an obstacle course, causing tourists to break like pheasants after a bad shot. The Really Cool Bikers speed silently around terrified bystanders, leaving a trail of bike-induced horror. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/some-street-cyclists/484797.md?page=8)