Are Cyclists “Elite Snobs”? It Depends on If They’re in Your Way

"Are Urban Bicyclists Just Elite Snobs?" asked Salon in a recent article. The question could have come from a game of Madlibs. Are [marginalized group of people] just [pejorative adjective] [insulting label]?

It's hard to imagine another group receiving the same treatment. Are suburban drivers just insufferable jerks? Are transit riders just self-righteous cads? You get the idea.

The bulk of the Salon piece went on to mostly disprove the headline, before wrapping up with a fingerwagging admonition for cyclists to behave themselves. In a recent post at Network blog Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space, Richard Layman says that author Will Doig approached the cycling "image problem" from the wrong angle. It has less to do with cyclists' behavior than the way biking disrupts what motorists have come to expect on the streets:

The challenge to the primacy of the automobile is very uncomfortable for most people who are drivers, because it means for them a loss of privilege, as the past 90 years of transportation policy has privileged automobile use at the expense of walking, transit, and bicycling.

Plus there is the issue of anyone who doesn't drive, in this case the bicyclist, as "the other"--people can understand and deride the poor as unable to drive because they can't afford to buy a car, but people who choose not to drive challenge the system.