It's really more that many cyclists are in the way and aren't going the speed limit. You end up holding up a lot of traffic that is forced to go slower and that's annoying to everyone. to be frank, when you're driving a car a person on a bike taking up the entire road is annoying. This is why people really dislike bikes - they get in the way of people trying to get somewhere.
I won't defend all cyclists, some of them have bad etiquette for sure. I certainly don't have traffic piled up behind me. But I'd argue they've inconvenienced you far less than your car infrastructure has inconvenienced them. I promise if they had a separated fast bike lane to use, they'd be using that instead of getting blasted by cars and trucks and dealing with people angry they're late for their next stoplight.
If you want cyclists off your road, then you should be lobbying for better cycling infrastructure.
In a more downtown area it's obviously different.
>dealing with people angry they're late for their next stoplight.
Sounds like you have some nasty bias yourself.
That might change if there was more dedicated bike lanes.
The danger while cycling is not the bike or falling down, it's the motorized users.
Don't live your life thinking everything revolves around you.
Like most bike commuters I also drive, I know exactly what's waiting for anyone who's decided to be aggressive on their way past, and it's the next stop light. I'll probably see them there, and it'll be super awkward.
Based on your comment, I have to assume we live in different areas. I live in the city, and generally it is better and faster to bike because one can bike almost as fast as a car due to not needing to wait for traffic and there's no need to find parking at the destination. From my POV, the motorists I have to share the road with are driving on low throughput streets and generally don't belong on the streets I am traveling down.
Do you live out in the country with 2 lane roads? A small town?
The town I’m in outside the city is not a small town. There’s very little that’s more annoying than a group of spandex clad Tour de France wannabes taking up the entire road so they can cosplay.
Source please. Sounds like a confirmation bias on your part.
> There’s very little that’s more annoying than a group of spandex clad Tour de France wannabes taking up the entire road so they can cosplay.
You sound jealous. Get a hobby yourself, perhaps?
It's a speed upper limit, not a minimum. Are you upset when an agricole machine is using the public roads?
This "annoyance" against people not travelling at the speed limit on public roads is based on a lack of time management and the expectation that the road is empty. This is a selfish point of view.
When I want to control my travelling time, I walk or cycle. When I want comfort, I use public transportation or my car.
This is an infantile way of framing it. 99.9999% of road users (all types) DGAF what you do as long as you meed expectations for your type of traffic.
Pretty much nobody gets angry at slower traffic (tractors, cyclists, commercial vehicles) so long as it is meeting their expectations for what it is. If you drive a normal car and try and act like something slower don't be surprised when it pisses people off. Likewise if you cycle or have to operate heavy machinery on road and try and act like a car outside of some narrow circumstances don't be surprised when it pisses people off.
Nope.
1) Any tractor I've been behind on a public road will pull over to let traffic pass by when possible.
2) Tractors obey all traffic lights and laws and behave predictably.
3) I've never seen a tractor driver act aggressively towards a car.
2) Most cyclist do, some do not, same as drivers 3) Same as 2), and cyclist can be aggressive when your life is at stake. I think drivers mostly forget they are in charge of a dangerous machine.
How many stupid motorists kept screaming their engine when I was commuting just to pass me then come to a screetching halt behind other cars at the next traffic light while I just pass them back to the front of the line.
If I'm held up by a cyclist, I think "Good on them, they're braver and fitter than me."