I seem to get slammed or called a cycling heretic...

(in less kind words) for promoting the idea that we (sport cyclists) should consider NOT riding certain roads, particuarly at key traffic times, because of the effect it has on motorists and their opinion and attitude toward cyclists in general.  My critics exclaim "It's our right!" and that is true, but it's not always advantageous for us to exercise those rights all the time, just as it's not always advantageous to exercise the right to ride two-abreast on a busy 2-lane road.  Sometimes, exercising a right can be counterproductive and even stupid.  I'm not so much referring to bike commuters who cycle mostly out of necessity, as I am "sport cyclists" who the public more perceives as "optional cyclists".

"Good luck, all us Cycling Advocates who think we can force or will the prejudice away through "motorist education", without first advocating for better cyclist behavior!"

As a sport cyclist, my primary riding requirements are safety and enjoyment.  Riding in a bad place, at a bad time, or in a bad manner can compromise those things.  Now, I think we cyclists need to face something -- the bad deeds of the few will always be the most powerful force in forming, controlling, and maintaining MOTORING PUBLIC OPINION against us.  That's a generalization, and generalizations are not perfect.  But what we need to remember is the motoring public forms generalizations about us and uses those generalizations to influence how they behave on the road -- and they also use them in communicating with their legislators.

We haughty cyclists want to say "We just need to set these crazy motorists straight.  The bad apples among us are not the majority of us, and besides, there are laws that give us certain rights.  Motorists need to respect those laws and we need more effective advocacy to change public opinion".  The big problem for us is, few motorists notice or remember the majority of us who "do it right" -- ride politely, lawfully and respectably - but they all remember the ones who one time made them 8 minutes late for an appointment or ran the stop sign and saluted with the middle finger in response to their horn honk.  The negative impression has even more help sticking when it's made by a "optional cyclist" in colorful lycra.

Case in point, a p://greatergreaterwashington.org/post.cgi?id=4956" target="_blank" title="Do we need a name for anti-bike-ism?">recent article entitled "Do we need a name for anti-bike-ism?" that lists unfair public stereotypes against us:

So, don't misquote me.  I'm not for cycling bans on certain roads.  I'm for cyclists making better decisions about where to ride, when to ride, and how to behave -- and I think that if we make the right decisions, and remind our cycling buddies to do the same, public opinion will swing in our favor.  Public opinion is not something you can legislate.