Advocacy

John,

Thanks for bringing this article to our attention. I think we are all too familiar with the hate that many driver's have regarding sharing the road with cyclists. As I read this article I thought about a Facebook post I read several months back where many folks in the Hendersonville area were complaining about the Ecusta Trail and the cross-street traffic. Many of the comments in the article you posted were seen in that Facebook post. I know that I do ride with some cyclists who do not always obey basic traffic laws such as complete stops at stop signs and traffic lights. I always come to a full stop and try and get my fellow riders to do the same. Similarly, riding 2 or more abreast and blocking the flow of traffic is another one we should always be conscious of. It only takes one cyclist breaking those simple rules to ignite a driver who is just ready to take "action" against them.

-David Diamond

One the aspect of cycling I noticed is the hostility and anger directed at cyclists both on the road and in social media. Some of the vitriol is truly astonishing and disheartening (something many of us have experienced personally).

Here is a link to an article on Avid Cyclist: Cyclist Derangement Syndrome: America’s Sociopathic War on Cyclists that details this phenomenon. It's a bit of "rage bait" designed to make you angry but at this juncture that is probably an appropriate response and should be a call to action for us (see next post).

John