I see some of that nonsense on social media too, when someone complains about a single cyclist who engaged in reckless behavior and then goes on to imply that “all cyclists” are menaces and threats to Western Civilization and the existence of humankind. Or something like that.
I could see if someone complained about Mr. or Ms. ??? specifically, but some of these people (including a particular Wall Street Journal board member and The Washington Times columnist) expand this to include all cyclists. I think part of it is that some of these hidebound people still have this idea of all cyclists being wild-eyed, hippie, eco-warrior/terrorist, granola-eating, bath-avoiding enviro-freaks. Or something like that. It doesn’t compute when they hear about people like the Navy SEAL who was killed while riding his bike in Maryland not long ago. I can almost hear the internal gears grinding to a halt, or the computer memory banks starting to overload when they read “Navy SEAL” and “cyclist” in the same sentence. “How can this be? A Navy SEAL is not a wild-eyed hippie treehugger? This does not compute.” Or “F-that! No way! I’m so angry that I’m gonna run over you and all of your Lycra-wearing snooty friends like they were bowling pins!” (I’ve actually seen people post comments very similar to this, in the U.S., including the part about thinking of cyclists as bowling pins and flying into rages and a wild desire to run them over with a truck. :rolleyes: )
And who can forget the eloquent W. Times column about Capital Bikeshare being “ugly smugly.” Such refinement. Such class. Such insight. :rolleyes:
.
