Old 11-12-19, 02:19 AM
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bpcyclist
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Did not intend to offend you or anyone else with this post--many apologies for that. Truly.

That said, to answer your question directly, the post is extremely relevant to any cyclist who operates in an urban environment where bicyclists and motor vehicles must interact on a regular basis, because, as you no doubt must be aware, conflict between cyclists and motorists can be deadly. A motorcyclist has been charged with the murder of a cyclist on a group ride in Key Biscayne in August. A cyclist in a major U.S. city out on a pleasant ride with friends was shot and killed while on his bike. That's an international cycling safety story. Sadly, there are so many other examples of this kind of thing in America, that we could write a novel about it.

So, anyway, cycling safety and advocacy issue number one in the link I posted is the potential life-threatening danger posed to cyclists by motorist who become angry with them, for whatever reason, and who also possess a weapon. The gentleman in the Oregonian story pulled out a hammer. Any big-city police officer will gladly verify that a hammer can be a potentially life-ending weapon. This story could very easily have ended the same way the Miami one did. Easily. It did not, and that's great, but the issue was and is that angry motorists possessing weapons pose a potentially clear and present, deadly danger to cyclists.

The second cycling and advocacy issue here is that these issues between motorists and cyclists happen everywhere. My city, the place in which this story took place, is routinely praised and lauded in the national and international press for its awesome pro-cycling culture. Is routinely ranked in the top 5 U.S, cities for its friendliness and support for cyclists. Maybe that's true, maybe it isn't. But whatever the case, every motorist in this city knows there are cyclists everywhere and that they must aim to peacefully coexist with them. And yet, this fight between cyclists and motorists just took place right in the center of that supposedly cycling-nirvana-city of enlightenment and wonder. Just because you operate in a pro-cycling town, that is no guarantee that all motorists will treat you with respect. It can happen anywhere. So be careful.

The third safety and advocacy issue here is that these conflicts are by their very nature unpredictable and volatile once they start. A female cyclists was allegedly knocked unconscious in this dispute. There was a lethal weapon present. As someone who used to be on the receiving end of deadly conflicts between humans in my professional life, I assure you, this could have ended very differently. We are very fortunate no-one was killed.

All that having been said, I am very sorry I appear to have either offended or simply irritated you with this post. That's not why the post was made and I do not live my life in pursuit of annoying or upsetting or provoking other people. It wasn't supposed to be a tawdry joke or any other kind of joke. It was meant to raise advocacy and safety issues for urban cyclists and remind us that it can be dangerous or disastrous out there. We ought never forget that. You don't know if the person you stupidly decided to just flip off in traffic was just fired or their wife and kids just left them or they were just indicted by the IRS or they have been on a meth bender for a week or they are an off-their-meds-schizophrenic who is floridly psychotic and believes that all cyclists were sent from the planet Zepton 1333 to kill them. You don't know. Have no idea. So, again, be careful.

Hopefully you can see a bit more of why I made the post. If you are still unhappy, though, you should alert an administrator and we can all discuss it together. I'd be more than happy to do that. All the best--
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