Bike snobbery and road rage

It really struck me how many of the very many people riding bikes in Copenhagen are riding cheap, crappy, Chinese style bikes , as well as the ubiquitous sit up and beg bikes. And or course, most people ride in their normal clothes, don't go very fast, and people weaving around is just one of those things you accept.

Of course, some people there ride racing bikes in full Lycra - I saw a massive club run passing through Roakilde on Sunday, about 50-60 riders all out on a lovely summers ride at a reasonable clip.

But a lot of people don't. Most people cycling in Copenhagen would get called nodders in here and people would complain about them being in the way and not being hyper proficient cyclists.

You always need to know the parameters of their trips. Generally, the main reason why you see people cycling like that in Copenhagen and the Netherlands is because they don't have to go very far. They cycle trips which in London would be walked. The need to travel in general has gone up a lot in these countries (i.e., greater average mileage per trip), but in some urban centres there still exists a large base of pretty short trips.

There's also the issue that other cities aren't nearly as busy as London. Not only do people typically have to travel further, but they can also expect a far greater number of (personal) interactions and need for conflict resolution, which slows them down and makes the trip more mentally taxing.