The Critical Mass story I tell is talking to a guy who did the rides (I never have) and him saying "yeah, we ride down the street, following all the laws... except red lights and stop signs" with a shrug. Wow. I think that kind of mindset ruined biking. Maybe I'm just getting older, but I feel like drivers have become more aggressive toward bikers. I'm thinking of replacing my road bike with a generic hybrid if only to distance myself from the stereotypical road bike and their riders. Is "Triumph" the British English pronunciation of "Harley Davidson?" I've been trying to crack the nut of outdoors clubs, but I find either I care more than they do or they're way more intense than me.
That is so very much not their mindset in San Fran and Los Angeles. There? Well, it's like a funeral procession in that they'll block intersections and chase you off the road... except they're also hauling ass, snarling at everyone and being abject dicks for no reason. As in, they are deliberately aggressive, pointedly provocative and legit dicks to even pedestrians. That said, every problem I've ever had on a bicycle in LA is all about distracted drivers. Worst experience I had (aside from being hit three times) was a guy who honked at me in Silver Lake for being stopped at a light where he wasn't expecting me. I honestly think he was just shocked and startled by my presence because he was so busy VWing his way through 5pm traffic. It would not surprise me if your perception of more aggressive drivers is actually more drivers with their faces in their phones, but I picked up riding again after the proliferation of the iPhone so I can't really make that statement with authority. Triumph is an odd duck because they ceased to be through aggressively shoddy workmanship (their assembly workers were so surly they'd put metal shavings in the engine cases) and were then restarted 20-odd years later. They also make a whole buncha different styles of bikes, while Harley makes nothing but bog-stupid standards. That said, I'm not a fan of Thruxtons but that's all me. Lemme know what you figure out about the outdoor clubs. There may come a time when my wife has time off again and at that point, we've got some serious hiking to catch up on.