Please help me dispel the myth that all cyclists are socialists

[taterguy]

I'm starting to get a little nervous about the attitudes of some of the motorists in my Cracker-filled town.

What do I have to do?

Get a transparent backpack so that my 12-pack of Budweiser is clearly visible at all times?

Your thoughts and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

ps: Am I a bad citizen for not checking to see if this is a duplicate thread?

[tridim]

1. Two words:

Gun rack.

[taterguy]

2. Got any mounting suggestions?

[tridim]

4. Townies like you describe would probably approve of duct tape.

[tridim]

9. OMG, just found this..

http://www.cyclelicio.us/2008/11/gun-racks-for-bicycles.html

[taterguy]

20. You're right. I should switch to a department store bike

Riding around on a Trek reeks of elitism.

[frazzled]

29. Well, my socialist bicyclist husband rides an Italian Colnago

Try getting out of that one. It's like cycling around with a Red Brigade poster that says "kneecap me." (Just kidding. We live in Chicago, so it's totally cool.)

}(

[taterguy]

46. I'll stick to Treks because that's what my local bike shop sells

If I lived in Chicago I might have more choices but I don't.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

57. Lucky bastard. :grumble: n/t

[Obamanaut]

35. I've had motorists in my rural area stop me to look at my long

wheel base recumbant. "Hey, that's neat!" or words similar.

[Warren DeMontague]

14. I was gonna say "Bike Nutz"

but, same difference.

[8 track mind]

62. ..........

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Warren DeMontague]

15. Delete. Dupe.

[Midlodemocrat]

3. First of all.

Yes, you are a bad citizen.

Secondly. All cyclists are socialists. We all know this. It's like that health care bill thingy that just passed. Socialism.

What's next? Darwinism?

I fear for my country.

[taterguy]

5. Lance is a socialist? Dude sure has made a lot of green for a commie

[JSK]

60. Socialists are not necessarily commies.

Bernie Sanders is a Democratic Socialist.

[villager]

6. Can't help you there. I'm a bicyclist, and I'm a socialist.

n/t

[Deep13]

7. Wear this.

http://www.smith-wesson.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10001&storeId=10001&productId=46437&langId=-1&parent_category_rn=16251&training=

[taterguy]

10. Black is not a good look for cyclists that ride after dark

But thanks for the suggestion!

[Deep13]

21. These come in more colors.

http://www.berettausa.com/products/beretta-team-t-shirt/

[DJ13]

8. Put a Confederate flag on the bike?

[Romulox]

11. I'm a cyclist. My #1 suggestion: don't wear phony team gear.

It looks lame, and when I see a snooty cyclist in the full get up who has paid someone for the privilege of wearing advertising, I always think "Why aren't you up in the Alps training right now?"

Other than that, cyclists are cool in my book.

[taterguy]

22. I have a couple logo-free cycling shirts I wear for long rides because they're cooler than t-shirts

Unfortunately, they're a bit too colorful for these parts

[HuckleB]

24. Wrong place.

[HuckleB]

12. Are you a socialist?

:shrug:

:hi:

[taterguy]

68. I fail to see how that has any relevance in this discussion

[Boojatta]

13. Customized bumper sticker: "I never buy oil from Chavez. Do you?"

[taterguy]

16. No bumper on my bike

But thanks FOR THE SUGGESTION!

[Boojatta]

18. Print the slogan on the front and back of an extra-large T-shirt worn over your jacket.

Print it in orange fluorescent ink for extra safety.

[Warren DeMontague]

17. I think you should try to say "Cycling socialists on mythical ethical icicle tricycles"

10 times fast.

[Beringia]

19. get a sticker that says - I would rather be driving n/t

[gratuitous]

23. Weave in and out of traffic, cut people off, run stop signs and red lights

Anyone with that kind of flagrant disregard for the law can only be a Republican. At least, that's what I say to myself when I see a brother cyclist (and yes, it's exclusively men) doing any of those things. Extra fascist points if you flip off anyone who objects to your "me first and fuck you" attitude toward traffic laws.

Glad to be of assistance.

[taterguy]

26. Thank you

I think

[Codeine]

55. That's every cyclist I've ever seen. nt

[HuckleB]

25. Some good resources.

Socialism or not, it's actually fairly clear that cyclists likely subsidize motorists in terms of road construction and repair.

Who pays for the roads?
http://www.ibiketo.ca/guide/who-pays-roads

Whose Roads?
http://www.vtpi.org/whoserd.pdf

Should Cyclists Pay to Use The Roads?
http://www.kenkifer.com/bikepages/advocacy/free.htm

Who Really Pays
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/29062903/Who-Really-Pays

Cyclists ride on roads their taxes pay for
http://www.seattlepi.com/opinion/331734_firstperson17.html

[taterguy]

27. Wow, I wasn't actually expecting something useful to come out of this lark of a thread

Thanks.

Really.

[HuckleB]

32. You're welcome.

[FarCenter]

28. Perhaps if you dress like this...

http://dsphotographic.com/g2/england/rawtenstall/1940s-Wartime-Weekend/Rawtenstall+1940s+Weekend+-+017.jpg.html

[MousePlayingDaffodil]

30. Well, I don't think all cyclists are socialists . . .

... but I do think they are all dopers.

[taterguy]

39. Nicotine? Alcohol? Caffeine?

Guilty as charged.

[kestrel91316]

31. Just get a mullet and wear a wife-beater when you cycle and all should be fine.

[Mopar151]

33. A shop shirt from these guys should do the trick!

http://www.pasorobles-usa.com/smiths-sporting.htm



And a race report from 1895:
Last, there's this young fellow, Clark Smith, who runs a gun and bicycle store downtown who has been in strict training for weeks, going without ice cream and pedaling out to his dad's ranch each day to keep his muscles in shape. No one gives him much chance against the other speed demons of the track. But here he is, full of confidence. He is wearing what someday will be called "shorts" and, for modesty's sake, has a pair of long stockings on. He's riding a "76" Falcon, while the others a pinning their faith on lower-geared "63" vehicles.
The crowd is betting wildly as the four line up, with Clark getting the undesirable outside position. They're off! And the crowd gasps as the "gun store kid," with a terrific "get-off," leaps into the lead, takes the pole position, and literally "gets it into overdrive" as they circle Engle's corner. In fact he's so far ahead when they pass Blackburn's barn, south of 8th Street, that Herb Lathropp, seeing only the others bunched together, offered to bet Will Lewis that Clark will come in last. Clark increases his lead and at the end of the third lap and the approx. three-mile-race, no one denies that he's the champion and well entitled to the six-dollar prize.
Sound like pretty cool folks to me - "Representin'" for them would'nt be a bad thing at all - the store was apparently active through the 50's

[slampoet]

34. "Don't you dare call LAnce Armstrong no commie!! That man is a one-testicled miracle!!!"

"Kissed by George W. Bush himself an other cyclist...!!"

[slampoet]

36. I also suggest on one of those wavey bike flags w/ a red-white-blue spiinner flag.

Nascar bumper sticker for the bike?

Anything that sez, "I'm pedaling off a DWI suspension, I have no choice."

[taterguy]

38. Round here most people suspect DWIs are the only reason to ride a bike unless it's recreational

But I'm trying to cover all my bases.

[hunter]

53. Yep. Taterguy just needs a beer helmet, a visible ass crack and...

... an "I :loveya: Ronald Reagan" t-shirt

http://www.zazzle.com/i_love_ronald_reagan_t_shirt-235258847774542432

[Mopar151]

61. A Carl Edwards cycling jersy would be appropriate

The NASCAR driver who does backflips when he wins. #99 He is an avid cyclist - an example:

Edwards, who is considered among the most fitness-conscious drivers in NASCAR, rode his bicycle from his hometown of Columbia, Mo., to suburban St. Louis via the Katy Trail -- a trip of more than 100 miles -- in the days before winning last week's Nationwide Series event at Gateway International Speedway.

"I don't know if there's something wrong with my seat, but my butt hurts, my legs hurt and my abs hurt from laughing so much with all the guys that were with us," Edwards said. "It was wild, fun."

It's the second year Edwards has biked the trail, which was carved out of an abandoned rail line. He made the trip with his trainer, Dean Golich, Nationwide Series chaplain Lonnie Clouse and Edwards' motorhome driver, Tom Giacchi. Edwards said his little group had a few adventures along the way, including teaching a kid how to perform his signature backflip off a diving board at a public pool in Washington, Mo.
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2008/jul/25/no-big-wheel/

[MattBaggins]

37. Please help me dispel the myth that all dogs are canines

[branders seine]

40. some are actually communists.

dOES THAT HELP?

[taterguy]

42. No, it does not help

:eyes:

[ThomWV]

41. I've been riding a Harley Davidson for years, and I'm not a socialist.

Though I do lean a bit to the left on a few issues.

[taterguy]

43. People that ride Harleys are "bikers"

It's the two-wheels with no motor types that you have to watch out for.

[ThomWV]

44. I beg your pardon, I ride a Motorcycle, not a motorbike - hence a cyclist, not a biker.

Its called the Harley Davidson Motorcycle Company, not the Harley Davidson Motorbike company.

On Edit: I'm sorry, I don't know how you post the Sarcasm Smilie. I don't mean it in any mean way - just kidding.

[taterguy]

45. My use of the term motorbike comes via Richard Thompson

You got a problem, take it up with Mr. Thompson.

Go ahead, make his day.

ps: Click on the thing that says "Smilies lookup" table to post the sarcasm smilie:

:sarcasm:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxKTzwaEa2o

[branders seine]

47. There are lots of pictures of German WWII soldiers riding bicycles.

Just put some of those on like mudflaps. Maybe one like a baseball-card "engine."

[taterguy]

48. The Crackers in my town don't distinguish between German soldiers and socialists

And they'll be the first to remind you that NAZI stood for National Socialist, or something like that.

[Ms. Toad]

49. Thanks a lot...just when I was about to start spring training

and already thinking about how much the current atmosphere feels like the hatred directed at the uppity blacks/peacenik commies/etc in the 60s . . . now I gotta worry more about that I see approaching in my helmet mirror.

[taterguy]

64. Glad I could be of assistance

[muriel_volestrangler]

50. British Conservative leader, finance spokesman, and London mayor on bikes

Respectively, David Cameron (left) and George Osborne:

(this is the first I've heard of Osborne cycling, though, and it does look as though he hasn't done it since he was a student)

and Boris Johnson:


Johnson and Cameron really do cycle regularly, and let it be known, because it's good for their image.

[taterguy]

51. Foreigners, not helpful round here

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

59. That photo of Boris is priceless. n/t

[Quantess]

52. I'm sorry, but you are in serious denial

if you cannot accept that riding a bicycle is proof of being a socialist. Everyone knows capitalists are physically incapable of riding a bike, and you need to stop pretending it isn't true.

[The Midway Rebel]

54. I ride on a Specialized Tricross with knobby tires...

Just in case I have to hit the ditch as I dodge a local douchebag. Also, I have learned it is best to stay off the roads at around beer:30 in these parts, if ya' know what I mean.

Maybe getting ya' one of those "I Miss W" bumper stickers will earn ya' some roadspace.

[nadinbrzezinski]

56. We are? Comes as news to me

:-)

What many cyclists (and pedestrians) are, well shit, very bad citizens in another way. YES THE LAWS OF THE ROAD APPLY TO YOU TOO!!!!

Ah feel much better now. You would (most likely not) be surprised at some of the maneuvers from the local bicycle users, like oh shit running RED LIGHTS... because well they are NOT driving a car.

Apart of the fact that the law does apply to them, the laws of physics do as well.

Yes I am ranting. We have a bike lane right outs die where I live, and I HAVE TO STOP on a green to make sure the local idiots don't walk\ride by the RED.

Oh and for the record I DO ride a bike in the summer, so I know the attitudes of many a a driver, but I know why.

Stay safe.

[Canuckistanian]

58. No, no, socialists are cyclical

Not "cyclists are socialists".

You just heard it wrong.

[taterguy]

66. Thanks for the clarification!

[Morning Dew]

63. tea bag hat !

http://www.zazzle.com/teabag_hat-148834280608143989

[taterguy]

69. I'd have to wear the damn thing backwards

The threats that I'm worried about are the ones behind me.

[Indy Lurker]

65. hows this

[taterguy]

67. Not very helpful but thanks for trying