What We Are Up Against?
 

I am a bit of a forum junkie. I'd rather read forum fodder than read a book or watch TV. I am regular on boating forums, motorcycling forums, this forum and some hunting/shooting forums. Occasionally, on those forums, bicycle threads pop up. On one forum in particular, shooting/hunting related, they are especially hostile toward bicyclists. I stand my ground and punch back. If you get bored, this thread will give you a glimpse into the mind of the average motorist. It starts with a thread about how a drunk plowed into a family in Montana, and predictable devolves into an anti cyclist rant. https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbth...ics/17611015/1

Wow, even the thread title says a lot about a bunch of campfire sittin', beer guzzlin', pick-em-up drivin' inbreds (loved your comment about his sister.) Guy gets so drunk he can't stand, gets behind the wheel, hits a family on bicycles AND another vehicle, and it's the cyclists fault? It's really sort of a shame he didn't drive through a campground, drawn to the light of a campfire like a moth.

It's a long read. There are some jewels buried in there though, so if you liked the sister comment, you'll probably enjoy some of the other content. Oh, and it has an interesting twist toward the end. I also dangled some bait that got hit hard.

Pick-em-up driving inbreds******************************?

You left out the campfire sittin', beer guzzlin' part.
Read the thread. If they can stereotype cyclists, well.

Durn, for a brief moment I thought the guy looked like Larry Bird in his younger days.

I haven't clicked the link yet, but I bet it's going to be a fun one. I read through the thread that featured my video of people throwing trash at my group, and it was a dumpster fire.

We are allowed to have a bit more spirited discussion over there, so I took full advantage.

I read the first page and got more than enough cyclist hate for the week. Not that I expected a bunch of stupid pickup driving rednecks to have any empathy. Perhaps they'd change their tune if one of their family members or friends got mowed down by a drunk in a Ford F-250.

Terrible. Really terrible. :(

I have a pick up. And by most accounts I'm probably a redneck.

Seems a little intolerant stereotyping on your part here!

When I'm on the road with my bike, I can't say that pickup truck drivers, SUV drivers or sports car drivers are any worse than the other for being offensive toward me.

Word.

Looking for jeans reviews as I want pants in the older style. Not vintage, old.

With room for make anatomy and for muscled legs and buttocks. Not skinny, not hip huggers.

Unsurprisingly, I hit gold with a brand targeting Murika and farming and bkue collar, blah, blah. The reviews I found were on ******. The thread derails into *****ing about MAGA and how the unfashionable look makes sense because they are all racist. ****** is also a dumpster fire, too, of course. It has less nuance than Twitter most if the time.

Being pro-[xyz] while not being immersed in the correct cultural stereotypes in America for your hobby is painful.

One of those censored words was a synonym for kvetching (don't know how well-known Yiddish is outside of NY).

The other was for Rę.đď.ıt, which I unfavorably compared to the bird app.

Is that censored? I unironically like that.

bicyclists are considered the lepers of the roadways :(

When looking at comments like in the OP's link it can cause anger to well up. However, I find it kind of a learning experience. This is what it feels like to be part of a minority group.

If you dwell too much in those negative comments, in some cases you'll become desensitized; however, in other cases you'll become hypersensitive to certain terms or behaviors.

I find it helpful when understanding how other minority groups don't see the humor in certain things the majority finds humorous or how they might take offense to something that seems innocuous to most others.




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One day, possibly within my lifetime, petrol isn't going to be as widely available nor affordable. Cyclists will still be getting around just fine and the bubbas will be trying to figure things out. This forum and another forum (photography based) I belong to, are pretty tame and well-mannered. The forums with vehicles involved often seem to get really nasty.

Not disagreeing with your post but please clarify who is the minority group you are identifying: truckers or cyclists?

As a member of a visible racial minority, I've seen too often members from the aggressors claiming victimization thereby trivializing the experiences of those they victimize.

And as far as bicycle and road safety advocacy goes, I've read articles and political commentary how there is a war on cars.

This reminds me of " This food is horrible! Taste it! " Ahhh... no thanks.

I'm talking about us cyclists, but not just people on bikes that ride MUPs or residential roadways. The extreme minority of us that ride all the major roadways -- we are an extreme minority. However, I don't mean to say we are in the same predicament of those who are in a racial minority, since once we're off our bike no one knows who we are.

This goes way beyond the comments on the forum linked by the OP. I've been riding on the roadways since the mid-80's and I can't say how many times I've been told to get off the road, how we're treated (by many in positions of authority) when we're hit by a car, like it's our fault for riding a "toy" on the roadways. And the numerous negative/harsh comments in the comment section of articles that report on cyclists' accidents.

I will NEVER ride on MUPs in the interest of safety. People, like in the forum above, only increase my resolve to exert my right to the roads.




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Goliath wins 99 out of 100 times.

Go with the facts on the ground for your safety and not some misguided crusade. I would miss you around here.

I don't understand those people who are part of a majority who find so much pleasure in being complaisant and have all this impetus to be mean towards anyone who isn't like them.:(

Censorship.

https://www.internetbrands.com/our-brands/

I have a sense of humor. I even have a dark sense of humor. However, I find no humor in the idea of running over bicyclists or belittling a family which suffered serious injuries because a drunk idiot was behind the wheel of a pickup truck.

The rule of gross tonnage is certainly inescapable.

https://www.tampabay.com/news/crime/...d-to-10-years/

https://i.postimg.cc/jSjfpNcg/Screen...0-27-34-AM.png

Seems to feel different when it plays out against cyclists huh? That same "I told you so" doesn't seem to come into play in situations like this.

The internet brings out the worst in every subgroup.

Living in the Florida panhandle, I'm surrounded by rednecks in pick up trucks. Most all of them give me plenty of room on the road and will stop and see if I need a ride when I'm roadside with a mechanical problem. Collectively, they are likely better behaved on the road than car drivers.