Conventional wisdom tells us not to bring up politics or religion in polite discussion. And if you live in a city, specifically Chicago, go ahead and add bicycles to that forbidden topics list.
For such a seemingly innocent and harmless activity, bicycling can enrage even the most mild-mannered people. It can cause otherwise mellow drivers to shout through their car windows, honk their horns in frustration and purposely cut off cyclists. It can cause people to speak of cyclists as though they’re a pariah group put on earth solely to inconvenience those who drive. It can even cause pedestrians, eyes normally glued to their phones, to look up and yell at cyclists who blow past them on the sidewalk. (Biking on the sidewalk is prohibited in Chicago for those age 12 or older, unless it’s a designated bike route.)
There’s no denying lots of cyclists break the rules of the road. But so do plenty of drivers and pedestrians.
So what is it about bicycling that elicits such strong emotions from its foes? Are we really that annoyed cyclists can run red lights and stop signs without consequence? Is it an unbearable hassle to be forced to wait 15 seconds before we have space to pass them on narrow two-lane streets? Are we jealous as we watch them cruise along on the lakefront trail on warm, sunny mornings while we sit at a standstill on Lake Shore Drive? (For the record, yes, I’m extremely jealous of this.)
Or could it be the cyclists themselves who bother us — or rather, the kind of people we imagine cyclists to be?
Ron Burke, executive director of the Active Transportation Alliance, a group that advocates for better cycling, walking and transit, said the most likely reason cyclists are disliked by some is because “cyclists, in the numbers we’re seeing them now, are relatively new on the streets.” Drivers are already accustomed to hating other drivers and pedestrians, but bikes add a new factor to the equation.
They’re one more obstacle, one more thing to slow down the almighty car.
Burke acknowledged that, sure, there are obviously some cyclists who don’t obey traffic laws and ride recklessly. But, he said, “the reality is, the same can be said for motorists. You probably hear fewer complaints for motorists because we’re used to it.”
Burke said there is also, generally speaking, the notion of a generation gap regarding attitudes toward cycling, with older people viewing the streets as a domain exclusively for cars.
And then there are the stereotypes projected on cyclists: Hipsters. Presumably liberal yuppies. People who harbor animosity toward these groups might just lump all cyclists in with them.
Whatever it is about cyclists that can incite such fury (and your theories are welcome), I think Chicagoans realize they’re going to have to just deal. For being “little bike people“, the city and some suburbs sure seem to have shown a lot of commitment to getting them from point A to point B more safely.
Tell us what you think irritates people most about cyclists or why the anger directed at them is unwarranted in the comments.