As as motorcyclist, IMO if cyclists conducted themselves more like those on motorcycles, i.e. did not run stop signs, did not weave in and out of traffic, did not ride on sidewalks, did not pretend to be pedestrians and ride across crosswalks, used their hand signals and bell/horn, then perhaps they'd get a little more respect.
I was absolutely appalled at the extremely high index of absolute *idiocy* displayed by many cyclists along the Waterfront Trail today. I have to keep reminding myself: "Better to deal with idiot motorists than idiot cyclists"...since the options of the roads as to choice of streets is considerable, compared to the limited number of bike lanes across the city.
I leave it at that, save to say as an avid distance cyclist, residing and cycling in quite a few nations, I've *never* seen such bad cycling as I saw in Toronto today. In this case, yes, thank God they weren't driving cars. It makes my odds a lot better in road traffic than on the suicide bike lanes.
Edit to Add: Make no mistake, even as a senior, I'm in amazing shape, and I'm a good cyclist, obey traffic rules, look before passing, just use plain common-sense, rebuild my own machine, but what *really* irks me are the weekend warriors in their silly canary outfits who should know better, trying to prove to the world that they're God's gift to Spandex. (I wear padded undershorts, padded crochet backed gloves with real padded leather palms, totally for function and safety, and cut-off jeans over top of the padded undershorts, and yeah, a Brooks Swallow saddle and a forty year old Argos Renovated Reynolds 531. I did 150 km in 6 1/2 hours last summer....but NO canary gayness).
Of course, I have no-one to blame but myself for putting myself amongst the wannabes and losers. This week I'm hitting the rail-trails, where one is glad of other cyclists, since they know their limits and protocol.
I'm so ticked at how dangerous the bike paths are that I think the cops should swarm them and start handing out tickets, albeit there's no specific offence for being a complete moron.
No wonder motorists get so pissed at many of them. And it debases my right to scream at motorists when I get painted by the same brush these a-hole cyclists slop all over the place.