This is a topic I have had chats about many times... as a lover of bikes and almost all things related to cycling, I do share some of your sentiments... mainly from the standpoint of a bike lover who hates to see some of the yahoos making a bad name for the people who obey ther rules of the road...  helmets is another topic. which could bolster a long debate... where I was raised, one was required...  as a resident of the eastside I watch hipsters on single speeds blow stop signs, ride unknowingly too far into the road and all the time... without a helmet...   it needs to be hip to wear a helmet I guess.

In David Byrne's "Bicycle Diaries"(yeah, that Byrne), he gives a quick crit of other cities and their bike habits. The book isn't all about biking (and actually, more about the thinking he is taken to because of biking). But its funny because helmets don't come up often. But things are safer for bikers in other places like Germany, where he really seemed to like.

I really want the cycling in Portland to increase and succeed but I inevitably encounter inconsiderate cyclists when I am driving around.  Of course there are rude car drivers as well, but the percentage of unpredictable cyclists is higher, I believe.  We were driving south on Sandy Blvd. the other day and there was cyclist using both the street and the sidewalk, depending on how many parked cars were in his way.  He was traveling at about 25 mph and if anyone had come out of a store when he was on the sidewalk, they would have been very badly hurt.  Cars don't use the sidewalks and most car drivers stop at stoplights.   As unfair as it is,  one cyclist still represents the whole group.  I am willing to accept the presence of bikers on the road but I need a greater percentage of them to obey the law.

So  this morning's Oregonian  (2/24) had an article about a rogue illegal bike trail constructed in Forest Park.  Maybe it's not fair to put this event together with the other bike issues that Portland has.  But it suggests to me that Portlanders need to do serious work on public policy for biking.  Then implement it and enforce it.

I would think it's enforcement more than rules.  There's plenty of rules for cycling, but when's the last time that you've seen a cyclist actually pulled over? Trust me, there are plenty of rude drivers out there.  I see them all the time.  I always find it amusing when drivers complain about cyclists stopping at stop signs and stoplights, and you even stated "Mst car drivers stop at stoplights."  So do most cyclists.  And, most car drivers and cyclists do a 'California Stop' at stop signs, yet cyclists are the only ones that have newspaper articles written about it.

Jimmy P... you make a fine point my friend!  plenty of car owners do the same... it just seems less obvious.... PEOPLE NEED TO WEAR HELMETS HOWEVER!!! 

The helmet thing is a pet peeve of mine.  I hate cyclists that wear headphones, that's really really dangerous.  I'm not saying cyclists are innocent, because a good amount aren't, but there's more to the issue than cyclists.  Traffic is a problem with a huge amount of variables and issues, and focusing/blaming one very small subset of it is not a good way to fix the issue.