I’m not sure about the eliteness. One of the most common red herrings I see is about how cyclists aren’t ‘paying for’ the roads because they don’t have vehicle stickers or gas tax participation, etc. When you take into account cycle-commuting numbers versus cyclist participation numbers, this is clearly not the case. These people are getting to work SOMEHOW, and buying these bikes SOMEHOW. If you also look at household income numbers for cyclists, it skews to the higher-income households, who are undoubtedly contributing to property tax base and other ‘use’ taxes in the sales tax realm, even if you do assume they have no car.

Of course, a lot of the haters have no idea what a bike that might be ridden by the spandex brigade might cost. That my bike is worth more than their car is a completely unbelievable and alien concept.

As boomer drivers age, and our brains deteriorate, there will be even more car-bike collisions. Montreal, with an aging population, has had a terrible record of bicycle deaths over the past few years.