Cyclist (ssyyhhkllisssst) sounds like a word from parseltongue, sometimes it feels like some kind of misunderstood dark art. Sometimes it feels like some kind of initiation ceremony where you have to run with enraged bulls and rhinos. It should not be this way, but for some of us it is. If I survive the apocalypse I expect to still be riding a bike on the other side. But I still don't consider myself a cyclist.
The "person first" framing can be helpful to humanise and remind that poor behaviour is an individual not a group characteristic. Person riding a bike, person using a wheelchair, person driving a motor vehicle permitted by road authorities operate at lethal speeds in urban areas.
"car vs bike" is a convenient distraction for the road authority that is failing both groups.
While I agree with the overall views expressed here, does the word 'cyclist' indeed imply a lifestyle choice, a state of being one, rather than simply mean 'a person travelling on a bicycle'?
In referring to all matters street design and urban mobility, I can't help from needing a word for the latter, and it feels rather unnatural trying to come up with a more appropriately flavoured synonym.
Cyclist (ssyyhhkllisssst) sounds like a word from parseltongue, sometimes it feels like some kind of misunderstood dark art. Sometimes it feels like some kind of initiation ceremony where you have to run with enraged bulls and rhinos. It should not be this way, but for some of us it is. If I survive the apocalypse I expect to still be riding a bike on the other side. But I still don't consider myself a cyclist.
The "person first" framing can be helpful to humanise and remind that poor behaviour is an individual not a group characteristic. Person riding a bike, person using a wheelchair, person driving a motor vehicle permitted by road authorities operate at lethal speeds in urban areas.
"car vs bike" is a convenient distraction for the road authority that is failing both groups.
While I agree with the overall views expressed here, does the word 'cyclist' indeed imply a lifestyle choice, a state of being one, rather than simply mean 'a person travelling on a bicycle'?
In referring to all matters street design and urban mobility, I can't help from needing a word for the latter, and it feels rather unnatural trying to come up with a more appropriately flavoured synonym.