Australian Cyclist here. Firstly, if I could ride to/from work without riding on roads, I would. I don't feel safe riding on the road. I don't like riding on t

Australian Cyclist here. Firstly, if I could ride to/from work without riding on roads, I would. I don't feel safe riding on the road. I don't like riding on the road, but I do it because where I live there is no other option. I have travelled to Canberra and I'm incredibly jealous of their cycling infrastructure. Secondly, roads are paid for by fuel tax, so yes, I'm getting a free ride because my bike doesn't consume fossil fuels, only weetbix. I do own a car however, and do spend over $100aud per week on fuel (kids taxi service). So I do contribute to the infrastructure costs. I guess I mostly agree with what the article suggests, hell, when I'm riding and another bloke on a bike rides through a red light, I think "you shouldn't be on the roads if you're unwilling to follow the road rules", it even makes me irritated. There are a vast number of cyclists who don't know the actual road rules when it comes to cycling. I thought I did until I sat down with the rule handbook and read the cycling section from start to finish, and realised I commonly broke a number of rules. Riders who insist on cycling in the middle of the lane - irritating. I realise a cyclist needs to keep enough space for themselves, and riding right next to parked cars is scary as hell due to the fear of someone opening a car door on you (it's not pretty), but if I'm ever holding up traffic, I just pull over and wait for the cars to clear. The worst thing you could experience is having someone in a car sitting on your shoulder, so close you can feel the heat from the engine. I've been attacked while on my bike a number of times. The most common reason that I seem to get attacked for is filtering. That is, moving up between lanes at a red light, to the front of the queue, so to the folks in cars I guess I'm a queue jumper. I've had people drive past me in their car and have a passenger open their door into me (yes while we were both moving) - the police planned to charge that guy with attempted murder, but he was driving a car with stolen license plate. However, the more I get attacked, the more I want to break the rules, how ironic! The worst are pedestrians though, they just walk out in front of you.