This guest column in oregonlive.com is worth reading. While written about Portland, I suspect the admission that too many cyclists flaunt the rules of safe riding could be made in any westcoast city.

Maybe not everyone.

Cyclists: We Have Met the Enemy — and He is Us

One avid but mature cyclist says nearly all riders follow a code. The trouble is that each type of rider follows a different code. His categories for bikers include:

• Eco-cyclists, who demand rights to use public roadways and think everyone should be using two wheels instead of four.
• Cool-cyclists, easily identified by trendy shades, suits, and water bottles, care only about what is stylish, not what is practical.
• Fitness-cyclists, are the ones wearing heart monitors and carrying a log book. They are also identified by pained grimaces.
• Speed-cyclists streamline everything from helmet to shoes and codpiece. Like golfers who believe that trees are 90% air, these guys think that blowing a stop sign at the bottom of a steep hill presents little statistical chance of injury on any single try.
• Stunt-cyclists don`t care about sharing the street, they assume a right to ride anywhere and are mostly concerned about creating a video that goes viral. They will bike across a raging river on a moss covered, rotting fallen tree but think the roads are too dangerous for cycling. They use an old panel truck to drive their four bikes to the trails, along with spare parts and a few rusty tools.
• Recreational-cyclists are demeaned by all.