I know I should just let this thread go but I can't stop thinking about it, because bike advocacy is something I care a lot about, and if we can't get Mustachians on board do we even have a chance?
I think the cycling community is quick to react strongly to any criticism because we are constantly told and/or treated like we don't have any right to the road at all (a lot of drivers actually believe we should be on the sidewalk, which lawfully isn't true). We're an oppressed minority, basically, and every time we get out on the road we are taking the risk of being killed by an inattentive or aggressive driver.
Personally speaking, every action I take on the road is intended to keep me safer, because its scary out there. The only illegal action I will do is slowly coast through stop signs after carefully checking traffic. Cars never come to a full stop at these either, so I would be annoyed if ticketed but would accept it.
I think the cyclists who exhibit "bad behavior" are probably more found in cities (bike messengers, youths, etc). In the suburb where I live, there's a very strong cycling community, mostly made up of recreational road and mountain bikers but also some commuters. The cyclists who behave like idiots are very much a minority, and the groups I ride with would never stand for someone behaving that way on the road. I almost never see any cyclist behave in an illegal or dangerous way.
Do you know what I do see, on just about any long ride? A car tailgating me, laying on its horn and scaring me half to death as it passes too close. The amount of aggressive drivers we have to deal with on a daily basis who PUT OUR LIVES IN DANGER is astounding (maybe there is less of this in Australia, I think America is particularly untolerant of being slowed down for even a second). I'm a nice and charming 30 year old woman. People like me. And yet as soon as I get on a bike, I become an "other," a problem.
So, yeah, this is why it sucks to hear so much cyclist hating on a community forum that I thought had similar values to me. Bikes over clown cars, and all.