What do we call ourselves if we ride a bicycle? Are we cyclists or bikers? What brought this to mind was a friend of mine sent me a text and asked if I had heard about a “biker” being involved in an incident with a vehicle on a street near where we lived.
So, I googled…”is a cyclist a biker?” Of course, there were numerous hits. But the first one that appeared was from the website Grammarist. Here is what they had to say:
“A cyclist (or bicyclist) is someone who rides a bicycle. A biker is someone who rides a
motorcycle. These terms are an ongoing subject of controversy, especially in cyclist circles. But it’s best to refer to groups of people as they refer to themselves. Cyclists generally call themselves cyclists, and bikers call themselves bikers. This is the case in the U.S., at least.”
This is coming from a website that is all about the right wording and grammar! The next hit was from the Bible of Bicycling….Bicycling Magazine….and they simply asked the readers what they thought was correct. Yes, you are correct. There were hundreds of responses and Bicycling magazine even did a YouTube video on it https://youtu.be/lr6j2gj8hRU
However, they best summed it up as the following: “Bikers ride motorcycles, cyclists ride road bicycles, and mountain bikers ride mountain bikes.”
So, one last look at the hundreds of articles on this topic was the Columbia Journalism Review. This is from what is considered the top journalism school in the country. So, I think they should have the final word:
“To play it safe, shy away from nicknames and diminutives, and call someone a “bicyclist” if they ride a “bicycle,” and a “motorcyclist” if they ride a “motorcycle,” unless they express a preference for what to be called.”
Now I will provide my expertise on this matter. I call myself a cyclist. Bikers are those that ride a motorcycle. When another person who rides a bicycle refers to someone who is riding a bicycle as a biker, I will casually bring into that conversation that the person is a cyclist.
But that leaves one final thought that you may have had. Why do you have your website as bikeablene.com and not cyclingabilene.com or cycleabilene.com? The answer to that is quite simple.
More than ten years ago when my wife (who was living at the time) and I went up to Denver to visit our daughter who was and still is living there, we attended a large art festival in the Cherry Creek area of Denver. There was a gathering point for those (families and individuals) riding their bicycles to leave them in a secure area. It was managed by BikeDenver.org. So, I thought why not have that website in Abilene and as my yahoo email account.
Ride Safe! Ride Lots! (Or should I say…Cycle Safe! Cycle Lots! or Bike Safe! Bike Lots!) 🙂
bikeabilenedotcom 