If you lived in a town with a bunch of college kids thinking, "The reasonable man stops at red lights, the unreasonable man changes the world and stops global w

If you lived in a town with a bunch of college kids thinking, "The reasonable man stops at red lights, the unreasonable man changes the world and stops global warming," or with grim-faced yuppies thinking, "I woke up at 4am so I could ride a century today, and any lazy jerk who didn't should be prepared to slam on his brakes and yield priority to my unstoppable 90 RPM," then you might feel differently. Even if they account for 5% of the riders on the road, they account for approximately 90% of public perception of cyclists. Cyclists are just like drivers -- if they're polite and responsible, they don't make any impression. Assholes are memorable. Most people don't know many cyclists personally, so it's the assholes who determine the public image.