Why Are Cyclists So Hated...

clive that's obvious.

look at the opening question and my answer again with your beady legal-eagle eyes.

why are cyclists so hated? not why do you (me) hate cyclists?

"if i was a non-cyclist i think those would be the reasons i would give"
based on what are the most obvious things cyclists can do to piss off other road users.

MrSmith.

As always, I entirely agree with you. Those are the reasons that people give. Every time I have a conversation about cycling I am told of the occasion a month or two ago when a cyclist made someone take evasive action while walking on a pavement or at a pedestrian crossing. Each time I recount the five or six occasions that day when pedestrians have stepped out in front of me but assure them of my love for my fellow man including pedestrians. The root cause of hatred to all cyclists is the inherent failure of people to see others as individuals but as stereotypes. People are inherently racist, homophobic and otherwise intolerant and prejudiced. People that is, apart from that 20% of cyclist among whose company we find ourselves.

[Yes the irony of the final sentence is deliberate]