Bicyclist using the new bike lane on S. Shields St.
I attended the Magnolia and Shields intersection open house tonight that was hosted by FC Bikes and the City of Fort Collins. In speaking with a fellow participant, I learned the following.
- All bicyclists are riding a bicycle for pleasure.
- Bicyclists don’t need direct routes across town because they’re never in a hurry to get anywhere. (See #1.)
- Bicyclists that use a road simply because it’s a direct route, even when there is no bike lane, are either uneducated or stupid.
- Bicyclists are demanding. And when they demand direct routes across town they show exactly how selfish they are.
The person I spoke with thought it was foolish that bike lanes have been added to Shields, Mulberry and Taft. In his opinion, bicyclists just need to pull out a map and find alternative routes to get to where they need to go. Expecting to use main roads like Shields, Mulberry or Taft is just selfish on the part of bicyclists.
(I’m trying very hard to use his wording as much as possible in the descriptions listed above. He was particularly adamant about the selfish and uneducated parts of what he said.)
So what do you think? Are bicyclists being selfish when they ask the City for direct routes across town?
Have you heard any assumptions about bicyclists lately?