We Do Not Hate Cyclists But Hate Hordes On The Streets, Or Maybe We Really Hate Cyclists But Why?

AA-plate riders confronted a roadbike bicycle platoon (Twitter / @ samartemaram)

JAKARTA - A viral photo shows a motorbike rider with an AA plate pointing his middle finger at a platoon of road bikes. Warganet is divided in various opinions. It could be that what we hate is not the cyclists, but the vehicles clustered on the road, whatever that is. Or, yes, we really hate cyclists. But what is the reason for our hatred?

Let's take this phenomenon slowly. Relax. But before that we need to thank whoever captured the moment through his camera. First, the photo is amazingly cool. If momentum is key, the photo may be the gold.

Second, this viral photo prompts us to a heated discussion that we perhaps shyly threw up as an argument. So, the photo was uploaded by a number of accounts on Twitter social media. One of the uploaders is @samartemaram.

"How dare the anti-polyusi fighters of the Capital City," he wrote in the photo upload.

How dare the anti-political fighters in the capital pic.twitter.com/WlNzCnkHFd

- Hidden House (@samartemaram) May 27, 2021

Analyze the comment room

The unrest of netizens from two camps - pro-bicycle culture and counter-cyclists - spilled over in the comments column. We collect some as an illustration of the collision of this phenomenon and discuss them with UIN sociologists Syarif Hidayatullah Tantan Hermansah and Poetoet Soedarjanto, Chairperson of Bike2Work Indonesia.

The @nksthi account wrote a satirical message: This AA plate driver is a violent category on the road. Wild and biased. Usually, it even makes other drivers emotionally close to him. But if they get emotional because of the behavior of other road users, it means that the road is not okay.

"That is a wide road. You can make a neat line on the left. You can buy expensive bicycles and equipment, but you can't be neat. Selling bicycles, learning to hike at the Koramil," wrote the account @lukito_jho.

The comment was replied to by the @Caturrio account. He wrote, "Have you ever looked at the road on the left side yet? Have you watched a lot of sand, gravel etc? Have you ever tried it like this? If that means you know the difference? Those who use a motorbike are lazy on the left because a lot of sand makes it slippery."

A chain comment with a counterpart from the @nesgotik account who said, "If on the left, everyone can't talk to each other, bro. So that it looks like an orkay without a burden."

That's a wide road though. Can you make a neat line on the left. Can you buy a bicycle and its equipment which is expensive but it can't be neat. Sell his bike, learn to hike at the Koramil.

- Not Vincenzo (@lukito_jho) May 27, 2021

There are at least three major narratives that are most debated. The first is the disciplinary problem of cyclists there. One reason that triggers the anger of many netizens in this discussion.

Several netizens commented on roadbikes, sports cyclists who have different habits from other types of cyclists. "These are RB children who ride cars Monday-Friday, Saturday-Sunday just ride bicycles with the platoon," wrote @kunoki.

The third narrative is the arrogance of cyclists. These things appear in the eyes of netizens because cyclists - especially in viral photos - are wealthy people. Another interesting narrative about this arrogance appears in one comment that has so many others in it.

The @iwan_paul account writes: Is it okay if you are already in a group / convoy in large numbers, you really don't like it. No bicycle. No motor. No car. Feels like the road has its ancestors.

Anything if you're already in large groups / convoys, it won't be fun. Not a bicycle, no motorbike, not a car. Feels like the road has its ancestors 😴

- Iwan Paul (@iwan_paul) May 27, 2021

Street hordes

Commuter bicycle (Yudhistira Mahabharata / VOI)

The perspective of the @iwan_paul account is shared by many netizens. The option was rewarded with 283 Retweets, 9 Quote Tweets, and 1,215 Likes. We explore it through a sociological perspective. Tantan said the phenomenon could be explained through Solidarity Theory, about why someone's arrogance increases when they are in a herd.

Solidarity Theory explains the emergence of social expressions in someone who feels bound because of several similarities. For example, both are cyclists, both KRL users, and so on.

"Initially it could be mild, so the bond is normal. However, along with the intensity and interaction, the bond of solidarity is getting stronger," said Tantan to VOI, Friday, May 28.

Even so, Tantan underlined that this kind of problem is usually just a matter of perspective. In the viewpoint of the cyclist community which has been adrift as explained by Solidarity Theory, what people see as arrogance can be just a response to an action taken by an object outside its community.

"Even though try to look at it more objectively, it could be that the arrogance of the community is present because there is a trigger, or as a response to another action from outside the community," said Tantan.

Why do we hate cyclists?

AA-plate riders confronted a roadbike bicycle platoon (Twitter / @ samartemaram)

In other contexts, it cannot be denied that public sentiment has increased in recent times. Many cyclists suspect the momentum was at the start of the pandemic when a culture of cycling flourished.

Reza Muhamad, a commuter cyclist, shared an experience that shows a change in public attitudes towards cyclists. Reza has been using bicycles as his means of transportation since 2011. The roads are changing, he said.

"Just yesterday when WFH was riding again, I experienced my tires being kicked at a red light by men riding motorbikes, I don't know why. I did slip next to him. But when I got kicked, I was still silent," Reza told VOI.

Ari Siagian, another commuter cyclist also shared his experience. "I'm now avoiding walking in the morning with many people waiting. Not the traffic jams. But so fighting with people on the street," said Ari.

"Do you realize that our roads are often deliberately closed now by other people (other vehicles)? It's the ones with small gaps, yes, the only ones that fit are bicycles. Nothing, but it's getting more and more difficult, so it's not that much difference?"

The increase in sentiment cannot be denied. But there's no need to worry. Tantan sees this phenomenon as a dynamic social phenomenon. This sort of thing must have happened at a time of social transition.

But why do we hate cyclists? The reason is the established culture that we have lived for a long time. But, take it easy. These collisions will make us accustomed to and accept each other in the end, that's what Tantan said.

"But what is called virtue (cycling culture) is eternal and eternal. So this is normal. It's a kind of recurring cycle. Just change the media ... The establishment of the old culture and the unwillingness to accept the new culture."

How to react?

Poetoet Soedarjanto, Chair of Bike2Work Indonesia, explained a number of interesting perspectives on this matter. First, regarding viral photos, Poetoet's attitude is one thing: If the route that is traversed already has a bicycle lane, straighten it out if I'm wrong, then the bicycle group is wrong. Wrong, that's wrong, there's no need for this justification. Please look again at Article 122 UULAJ 22/2009. How about a motorbike? Obviously he has no manners.

Poetoet also gave an opinion about the unrest in the comment room of viral tweet @samartemaram. About the designation "polluter warrior," for example. The term, said Poetoet, clearly refers to people who use bicycles as a means of transportation. Whatever the bike.

So the issue is not whether it is a roadbike or a gravelbike, a folding bicycle or a touring bicycle. The difference between a pollution fighter or not is seen from the purpose and how he uses the bike.

Photo illustration of a cyclist (Irfan Meidianto / VOI)

"Seeing how they look, they are exercising with speed. How about other times? Not necessarily by bicycle transportation," said Poetoet.

Poetoet also explains the basic ethics of cycling. First, give a sign when you are going to turn. Second, use polite words and stay on the left lane. The fourth ethic, group in small numbers. Fifth, stop at a red light. And lastly, don't use earphones.

So how to react? Whatever. The important thing is we have discussed all night and today. And through this article we explore the issues that are rolling in our discussion space, including that these hatreds are real and to be enjoyed as a process of the development of the cycling culture itself.

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