We cyclists are way too damn preachy... I realize I'm being preachy myself here but what I'm getting at is I think a lot of us miss the point that there's value in "negative space" so to speak- the equivalent of civil liberties - freedom for the sake of freedom- being open minded and not having hard and fast rules for all things cycling.

When society fully embraces biking maybe then would be a better time to be all "this is the right way and wrong way to bike", until then we live in a car culture which is horrible for the environment. Bikes are so much less of a strain on society and take up so much less space and don't contribute to traffic congestion or carbon footprint in any substantial way. Biking is about freedom and independence. Biking needs to be incentivized and not self policed or otherwise strictly regulated.

Think of the portlandia sketch where the cyclists stage a protest by jamming up an intersection yelling "bikers rights! Bikers rights! " That's how we come off sometimes to non bikers.

And I think it can also be intimidating for people just getting into biking when it seems like the seasoned riders look down their nose at them in an elitist fashion, wagging their finger and saying "you need to pass on the left! You're going the wrong way! Get off the sidewalk! Stop shoaling!"

I get the sense that many look down on those with cheap cruisers, or mountain bikes, those with cable locks instead of u locks, etc. As if there's this natural evolution where everyone would eventually ascend to the hallowed halls of road bikes.

I don't think there should be so many hard and fast rules to govern biking, I mean, for example, let's say there is no bike lane, a busy street, its an industrial area with a wide sidewalk, and you're going extremely slow on your bike on the sidewalk - what's the big deal? If you hit someone, you'll certainly be at fault, but if you don't- no harm no foul. Keep an open mind!

Let's say biker A is in front of biker B and A is towards the left, going slow, leaving plenty of room to pass on the right but no room to pass on the left... Is it really such a big deal if B then passes him on the right (giving A plenty of room in case he veers)? Is it necessary for A to make aggressive remarks to B thereafter? I once passed a guy on the left (yes left) and he wanted to pick a fight with me and started yelling profanities simply because I didn't give him a verbal head's up and say "on your left!" I mean, really?

Let's say two people are biking and biker A is faster than biker B. They keep coming to stoplights and taking off at the same time as a result. But biker B has gears and is able to accelerate faster while biker A is on a fixie and takes time to get up to speed. Is shoaling really uncalled for here- especially if there's enough room for both to share the lane and biker B is not really preventing biker A from passing him again? And even if it is "shoaling" is it really worth it to give biker B grief with some term that he may not even know since he's just starting out biking? Can't we as bikers pick our battles a little better?

When I talk to people just getting into biking I never tell them "this is what you need to do"- I just suggest things but I also say "do what works for you- get comfortable". I think it's important to create a friendly welcoming atmosphere for all cyclists and not take this aggressive stance to make them feel like they don't belong- they are not one of us- they are doing something wrong.

*puts on flame retardant vest*

I may be struggling to articulate my point here but I hope some see what I'm getting at.