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Comment by avalys | Hacker News Reader

Why do you assume his activity is recreation and the cars are not? I know plenty of people who bike to get places, and plenty of drivers who are on the road for fun only.

Sure it isn't the majority, but it is still a good number of people.

I appreciate the intent of your comment, and while it's true that 95% of my cycling is for my daily commute to and from work, I feel it's important to state that the 5% of my road cycling that is recreational is also a perfectly legitimate use of public roads.

It's certainly perfectly legal and legitimate. We all have to share the roads. Personally, I am careful around bicyclists, and it is precisely for that reason that I wish bicyclists would not choose to ride on roads that have sustained stretches which are not wide enough to safely pass them.

I do find it frustrating when this occurs. I don't think it is entirely my fault.

Last I checked, most cyclists aren't the ones building the roads you have to share. You should anchor your complaints towards your local government to improve road infrastructure for cyclists rather than complaining about someone else sharing roads in a perfectly legal manner.

Make a proposal, where should the cyclists go? We want to go to a specific place, even when going on recreational rides. Every cyclist I know prefers safe trails over dangerous ones, but it’s just impossible to always avoid a narrow stretch.

For a counter-example of how things should be: I have just spent around 1000km on Swedish roads. Car drivers would slow down, keep distance behind you, wait until there was a spot that was wide enough to pass with sufficient visibility, and then calmly pass, giving us a wide berth. I had a single close pass in two weeks.

It’s entirely your fault that you feel this way, not the cyclists who are legally using the road.

A few things wrong with this comment:

- Motor vehicles are inherently dangerous, the larger they are, the more dangerous they get, and their drivers should be in control of their emotions. Road rage is frowned upon for a reason

- You don't know if it's a recreational activity or utilitarian transportation.

- It's not that commenter that is making these people's "frustration" at their brief interaction dangerous

> a recreational activity

they specifically stated that they are a cyclist commuter - i.e. they are using their bike to get to/from work. This is at least as good a use of road space as most drivers.

edit: maybe OP misunderstood due to comment edits.

The comment was edited to add the word “commuter” after I replied and originally suggested someone riding as a hobby or lifestyle choice.

Luckily it makes no difference at all why someone is using the road to whether or not you're allowed to threaten them because you feel inconvenienced. So it doesn't matter whether the word "commute" appears in the comment or not.

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