Well, I said I'd be happy to call out jackass bikers, so, my god, what fucking jackasses. Glad you didn't get hurt.I still see a lot of aggressive or bad behavior among cyclists in Boston. A few from just yesterday:
All over the course of about 1 hour, late afternoon yesterday.
- Cyclist riding aggressively through pedestrians inside the State Orange Line Station (yes, in the station!).
- 2 cyclists riding the wrong way in the bike lanes on Columbus Avenue. (I was almost hit because I foolishly looked for cyclists coming from the correct direction.)
- 4 Blue Bikers (I don't really consider the "turista" types cyclists) riding across sidewalk areas along Charles Street South, aggressively yelling at pedestrians to make way.
The Blue Bikers are surprising. I was actually going to say the Blue Bikes might be a part of the culture shift, because they're letting a lot of newer, slower, more cautious people ride bikes, from what I've seen. They're the last people I would have guessed would riding on the sidewalk, yelling at people.
Yeah, that makes sense, and that could absolutely explain why I don't see as many problems as other people here. I lived, worked, and biked in Boston for years but I'm living in Cambridge now. I still regularly bike into Boston, but I might be getting used to my more bike-friendly enclave.There's also absolutely a different sample size situation neighborhood to neighborhood (and city-to-city). Areas that have worse bicycle infrastructure will disincentivize a lot of people with a low risk tolerance, and the remaining people to choose to bike are going to likely be people with more aggressive riding behavior and a higher risk tolerance.