This afternoon hundreds of cyclists will cross the Harbour Bridge.
While the annual exercise is to get more cycleways and other bike facilities for Sydney – mostly it will just annoy the hell out of exhausted city workers anxious to get home.
But as someone who rides to work everyday I have just one thing to say - Now you know how we feel.
Cyclists have long been the poor cousins of car drivers.
It’s actually impossible to use Sydney’s major arteries in peak hour as a cyclist – even if you’re a strong rider. So you’re forced onto indirect routes or onto the footpath.
In addition, some drivers seem to take great pleasure in resentfully passing as close as possible to you so as to scare you to death.
But hang on a second - aren’t cyclists the good guys? Aren’t they reducing traffic, making parking easier, saving the planet and fighting obesity all at the same time?
And, to add insult to injury, some drivers seem to spend enormous amounts of time whinging about cyclists.
“They cross with the pedestrians at lights and then get back on the road,” they gripe.
“They break the road rules,” they whine.
“Their strong toned legs make me jealous,” they mutter.
It’s like the clichéd white single male moaning about how minorities are taking all his rights.
And before people moan that they are the ones paying rego, and therefore for the roads and stuff, I actually have a car, I simply choose not to use it.
So if you do get stuck behind some cyclists this afternoon instead of getting angry just remember next time you get a chance to vote – and make sure it’s for someone who’ll make cyclists lives easier.
*To miss the annual Critical Mass bike ride you’ll have to be over the bridge before 6.15pm.
