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I guess this is not so much of a rant on behalf of cyclists, as a plea for some understanding in all directions.

Whenever I mention that I'm a cyclist, the first thing a large number of drivers say to me is, "I suppose you're another one of those ba*s that ride through red lights and onto sidewalks when it suits them". They'll then go on to give me a blow by blow account of how they had to put their cell-phone down to complain.

Of course, telling them that I TEACH safer cycling and wouldn't dream of jumping a red light cuts no ice; I'm set in their mind as a light-jumping sidewalk-hogging buffoon with no thought for others.

Coming from a car driver, this is rich. I suspect that 99.5% of jumped traffic lights are perpetrated by car drivers, and as for vehicles with their wheels on the sidewalk whilst the owner uses the ATM or drops darling Araminta off for her Woodcraft Folk classes, just don't get me started. In south-west London where I work, this is just about the only "off-roading"
all those 4x4s do (or Chelsea Tractors as they've become known in London).

Who are the more dangerous to others, vis-a-vis jumped lights? Car drivers cocooned inside their precious metal can weighing 2.0 tons at 30+ mph, or me weighing 0.15 tons (including my bike before anyone "does the math") at 15 mph? Who's gonna get hurt? I think the smart money's on the cyclist.

As if this isn't enough, pedestrians hate us too. "I was nearly knocked down by one of your crowd last week!"

"My crowd?" Since when did I have to bear the cross for all cycling misdemeanors? Only minorities get lumped together as "a crowd' when in fact all we have in common is a bike. How would it be if I tarred all walkers with the same brush just because they wear shoes? "I had to ride round one of your lot on a cycle path the other day" or "You'll be another of those liberty-takers that puts one foot in the road to make me stop at a pedestrian crossing in the wet".

Of course there are bad cyclists, I see them every day, but when you spot the stereotypical Lycra-clad courier riding through a red light in central London one day, show me the proof that they're still getting away with it, nay even alive this time next week. Being a courier on two wheels, (powered or otherwise) in London, carries with it some rather alarming life-expectancy statistics.

In general, MOST people are law-abiding MOST of the time and serious cyclists are no exception. By "serious" I mean those people trying to get to work (rather than churning

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