@realSiegfried and @MarkBrigham mentioned a question by @Trailanderror
Q5. As a person who uses bikes/cycles, how do you refer to yourself?
original post: https://troet.cafe/@Trailanderror@scicomm.xyz/113874769989879332
#BikeNiteQ #BikeNite #BikeTooter #Cycling #MastoBikes cc @bikenite
@ascentale @realSiegfried @MarkBrigham @Trailanderror @bikenite A5. I like the person first nature of person on a bike, but that's mouthful.
So, I'm a rider.
@MarkBrigham @Trailanderror @bikenite @ascentale A5. Thank You very much for so many answers! English is not my first language and I sometimes felt unsure whether a term for person on a bicycle has a certain meaning. Also interesting how some of you distinguish bicycle and motorbicycle though using the word bike.
#bikenite
@realSiegfried @MarkBrigham @Trailanderror @bikenite @ascentale
#BikeNite
That is confusing even to native English speakers. In college I once had a conversation with the new guy in the dorm about "bikes" for at least 5 minutes before I realized that to him a "bike" was a motorcycle and to me it was a bicycle.
@realSiegfried @MarkBrigham @Trailanderror @bikenite @ascentale A5. it says "Endangered MAMIL" on my Strava profile 😃
I'd usually say "I ride a bike" not "I am a cyclist" - but then, John Lennon put me off ism-ism-ism in "Give Peace A Chance".
@ascentale @realSiegfried @MarkBrigham @Trailanderror @bikenite A5 #BikeNite Cyclist. With a capital C.
@ascentale @realSiegfried @MarkBrigham @Trailanderror @bikenite
A5
Cyclist
Answering this without reading other replies in order to be my gut reaction rather than on the "one hand/on the other hand/I am running out of hands" sort of thing
@ascentale @MarkBrigham @Trailanderror @bikenite @zed In Germany people on motorcycles call themselves 'biker'. Is that different where you live? How will you distinguish between person on a motorcycle or on a bicycle? (Just interested, English is not my first language.)
@ascentale @realSiegfried @MarkBrigham @Trailanderror @bikenite A5 - cyclist and commuter (even though this doesn’t just mean on bikes)
@ascentale @realSiegfried@troet.cafe @MarkBrigham @Trailanderror @bikenite
I'm a "cyclist" or "disabled cyclist" depending on how much information I need to convey. I very much object to the reactionary framing that we must break it down to "people riding bikes" in order to make car-centric folks remember our humanity. If they do not acknowledge my humanity, they have bigger problems than a name change is going to address. In fact, we have seen over & over that hegemons will just shift to
@ascentale @MarkBrigham @Trailanderror @bikenite using the new term as an insult or other target of hatred as those they exercise their bigotry towards keep trying to react to their hate with a name change.
@ascentale @realSiegfried @MarkBrigham @Trailanderror @bikenite A5. Just a rider. I’ve ridden, bikes, skateboards, trains, probably a horse or a pony once upon a time. I just go for a ride, people seem to know the bigger picture. #BikeNite
@ascentale @realSiegfried @MarkBrigham @Trailanderror @bikenite #BikeNite #A5 Simply a person who bikes.
Very quickly after we began devoting ourselves to bike advocacy, in 2009, we saw the value in referring to “people who bike” rather than cyclists or bicyclists.
Although we occasionally still use one of the latter terms, e.g., for word count or similar reasons, we make a conscious effort not to.
@ascentale @realSiegfried @MarkBrigham @Trailanderror @bikenite @bikemonterey it's amazing how much "person first" makes a difference especially if I keep doing it without making a big deal that I'm doing it. 👍
(for clarity I don't mean to imply you're making a big deal of it!)
#BikeNite
@ascentale @realSiegfried @MarkBrigham @Trailanderror @bikenite
A5. I call myself a cyclist.
When referring to others, I prefer 'a person on a bike' which I find less tribal and emphasises it's just a choice of transport. Especially if the conversation is tending to treat everyone that rides a bike as being the same.
@ascentale @realSiegfried @MarkBrigham @Trailanderror @bikenite A5: I used to always say “biker”, but these days that connotes someone on a motorcycle, so I usually say cyclist.
#BikeBite A5: I'm a cyclist.
I knew someone who called people on bikes "bikists". He also used the word "campist"...
@ascentale @realSiegfried @MarkBrigham @Trailanderror @bikenite
@ascentale @realSiegfried @MarkBrigham @Trailanderror @bikenite @bobjonkman surely "tentist" for consistency 😃 #BikeNite
@ascentale @realSiegfried @MarkBrigham @Trailanderror @bikenite
A5. In Japan, a bike is a motorbike, aka a scooter. So I shy away from the ambiguous "biker" and go with "cyclist." In Japanese though it would be [person who] rides a bicycle.
@ascentale @realSiegfried @MarkBrigham @Trailanderror @bikenite #BikeNite A5. Cyclist or bicyclist
@ascentale @realSiegfried @MarkBrigham @Trailanderror @bikenite a5. I don't often talk about myself. I try to avoid cyclist, but still fall back to that a fair bit. Person who cycles or bike commuter or bike rider. I will say I'm pretty into riding, bicycles, and how they can make cities better.
@realSiegfried @MarkBrigham @Trailanderror @bikenite A5. I don't have a great answer. "People riding bikes" or similar is probably what I use the most but it is a lot more syllables. So "person who rides a bike"?
It's weird to hear how you are perceived sometimes. There's a protected lane I sometimes ride and there are often people walking in it. I try to be as polite as possible while letting them know I'm riding, which usually involves a bell ding or a "hello".. or if in the evening, they might see a headlight.
Usually if they're trying to get someone else out of the way, they say "watch out, biker" or "watch out, bike". Feels a little weird to be referred to as the object you are riding on but I guess I get it, and I'd refer to a car the same way.
@ascentale @realSiegfried @MarkBrigham @Trailanderror @bikenite A5. I've started using cyclist more, but still only if I'm talking about bikes. I'm trying to not be too single dimensional ;)
@ascentale @realSiegfried @MarkBrigham @Trailanderror @bikenite
A5. Most of the time, I just refer to myself as a person who rides a bicycle. On other occasions, I do call myself a randonneuse, but mostly just when talking to people who know what that is already.
@theantlady @ascentale @realSiegfried @MarkBrigham @Trailanderror @bikenite
Ooh I love that word (words and crossword puzzles are my other obsession) .
I would also be tempted to find an -or agent noun that I could use the old feminine agent noun ending of -atrix. Audatrix - not correct formation but nice sound
@theantlady @ascentale @realSiegfried @MarkBrigham @Trailanderror @bikenite That would be great on a business card
@ascentale @realSiegfried @MarkBrigham @Trailanderror @bikenite
A5. Different ways depending on the situation. Usually bicyclist. Sometimes utilitarian cyclist. Slow roller. Clydesdale. Heavy bicyclist.
If someone asks if I'm a cyclist, I'll answer yes.
@ascentale @realSiegfried @MarkBrigham @Trailanderror @bikenite
A5b. I pointed out at my first Bicycle and Safety Committee decades ago, that "Bicycle" should replace most uses of "Cycle" and "Bike" because people generally thought of motorcycle with those terms. I found out later some people in the Cycling club weren't too happy about my comment.
@cainmark @ascentale @realSiegfried@troet.cafe @MarkBrigham @Trailanderror @bikenite I like using "cycle" and shifted to it several years ago because we have a big problem in infrastructure & advocacy of only taking upright bikes into account. Some ride less than 2 wheels, some more. And we need paths and elevators and racks, etc that take trikes and quads and handcycles into account.
"Bicycle" & "bike" encode 2 in there.
It hasn't been a totally easy language shift for me, but I'm mostly there #BikeNite
@cainmark @ascentale @realSiegfried @MarkBrigham @Trailanderror @bikenite I've definitely found that with "bike", but mostly online. I don't know if I've ever heard "cycle" refer to motorcycles before.
@ascentale @realSiegfried @MarkBrigham @Trailanderror @bikenite A5. Analogue biker, so as not to be confused with motorcyclists. Riding can be rough where I am, and folx are considered unstable/wild for doing it. IMHO 'cycling' implies a level of civility and healthiness I don't often see.
@realSiegfried @MarkBrigham @Trailanderror @bikenite @ascentale A5) Old man on a bicycle. #BikeNite
@lopta @realSiegfried @MarkBrigham @Trailanderror @bikenite @ascentale
I might have to get some branding stuff which says
Old Moab . Old Man On A Bicycle.
I am not yet, well I don't think of myself as old - but I definitely aspire to an Old Moab in the future
I know the name Moab but not the biblical story - he wasn't one of the "omg how awful can one person be and still be written about in a _holy book_ sort of person"
@lopta @realSiegfried @MarkBrigham @Trailanderror @bikenite @ascentale I had a Tshirt made that says COOL on the front, and on the back it says
Certified Official Old Lady
@ascentale @grammasaurus @lopta @bikenite @realSiegfried @Trailanderror I align more with the SOTS (Society of Three Speeds)
@realSiegfried @MarkBrigham @Trailanderror @bikenite @ascentale @lopta
#bikenite I was given a t shirt that says that.
@realSiegfried @MarkBrigham @Trailanderror @bikenite @ascentale @MartyCormack I'd wear that with pride. #BikeNite
@realSiegfried @MarkBrigham @Trailanderror @bikenite @ascentale @lopta
#bikenite I think if I was going to have a self deprecating salutation, it would be "old fart on a bike."
@MarkBrigham @Trailanderror @bikenite @ascentale @lopta @MartyCormack I really like the expression 'old man on a bike'. I'd go for that. It puts all intention away that I am using a bicycle for sports competition.
Hearing 'old fart' I have those in mind riding below 5 km/h, where I always ask myself how they keep balance.
@ascentale @realSiegfried @MarkBrigham @Trailanderror @bikenite transport cyclist.
Or "everywhere all the time" cyclist, because a lot of the cyclists I know are either recreational or commuter cyclists who default to cars outside of the niche they cycle in.
@ascentale @realSiegfried @MarkBrigham @Trailanderror @bikenite A5: honestly I've kind of struggled with it because too many options sound like motorcycle. I do say "Bike first," sometimes.
@realSiegfried @MarkBrigham @Trailanderror @bikenite @ascentale
#bikenite A5:
It depends on the circumstances. When someone is asking the question as if they want to know my profession, rather than saying I'm retired, I say that I am a " full-time recreational cyclist."
In an advocacy role I am a person who travels via a bicycle. I sometimes get called an "avid cyclist" (most recently by the local press) but avoid that if I can.
@MartyCormack @realSiegfried @MarkBrigham @Trailanderror @bikenite @ascentale
It's funny how "avid cyclist" connotes "Has an agenda that won't take other folks into account." #bikenite
@ascentale @realSiegfried @MarkBrigham @Trailanderror @bikenite #BikeNite A5, cyclist. If anyone wishes to redefine this to mean "only rides x type of bike in y manner" then that says more about them than me
@ascentale @realSiegfried @MarkBrigham @Trailanderror @bikenite A5: "That guy" (derogatory) depending on the context (it's okay, I embrace it). Generically, probably "bicyclist". #BikeNite
@josh @ascentale @realSiegfried @MarkBrigham @Trailanderror @bikenite #bikenite a5 Upon due consideration... "Devoted cyclist" is what I opted for when somebody suggested "serious cyclist."
Devoted steers away from the competitive spin on things.
That said, usually I'm just Sue JOnes. It doesn't take much to be a local character in Illinois :P
@ascentale @realSiegfried @MarkBrigham @Trailanderror @bikenite
A5.
I call myself a casual cyclist.
#BikeNite
@silvermoon82 @ascentale @realSiegfried @MarkBrigham @Trailanderror @bikenite oh, and if I'm ever round serious cyclists I call myself an unserious cyclist or a lighthearted cyclist.
@ascentale @realSiegfried @MarkBrigham @Trailanderror @bikenite #BikeNite A5. "Person who uses a bicycle"
(mostly, because "cyclist" here implies an athletic cycling enthusiast and spandex)
@ascentale @realSiegfried @bikenite @ai6yr @Trailanderror I tend to ride No Lycra Events.
![ajft [SEC=&8212;haha]](https://mediacdn.aus.social/accounts/avatars/108/394/830/721/852/594/original/e8be0d5b3695c8a6.png "ajft [SEC=&8212;haha]")
