How to Be the Ultimate Obnoxious Insufferable "Bicycle Activist"
An introduction to Peter Flax and his Vehicular Cycling Derangement Syndrome
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Peter Flax is an LA-based writer whose written for publications such as The Hollywood Reporter, Outside, Bicycling where he once held the role as Editor in Chief, and is currently the Editor in Chief for Red Bulletin, the magazine for Red Bull’s extreme sports division. He’s also the author of the book Live to Ride: Finding Joy and Meaning on a Bicycle. Live to Ride, at least from the reviews and sample on Amazon looks to be a worthy read for anybody whose passionate about cycling and interested the stories of various cyclists. Flax has some serious miles under his belt too and often states in his bios and interviews says he commutes only by bike.
This all may lead people to believe Flax has some serious credibility and authority but as readers of this Substack are aware the biking “community” is chock full of charlatans.
But Flax is also a textbook Cluster B(ike) Activist.
Actually, that’s not quite accurate.
He was one of the main inspirations for the creation of that label here almost two years ago.
In hindsight it’s remarkable that he’s never really been mentioned extensively here but a lot of that has to do with Flax doing a favor to anybody he considers detractors with liberal use of the block button.
It’s easy to forget about him until his nonsense comes back into one’s radar but much like a sewage backflow, when Flax’s nonsense reappears, it’s hard to ignore.
To recap, a Cluster B(ike) activist is a biking activist or ideologue who either has and/or exhibits character disorders associated with Cluster B. Cluster B character disorders are defined by their ultra emotional, dramatic, unpredictable behaviors often with a heavy dose of victimhood and external locus of control. Cluster B Personality Disorders are split into Antisocial, Borderline, Histrionic, and Narcissistic. As
, , , and Michael Shellenberger have argued to some degree, these traits are common (in Josh’s words: feral) among woke/progressive/SJWs and much of left leaning individuals who subscribe to other tribal dogmas such as racism, sexism, apocalyptic climate crisis, and mutilation of children/gay conversion therapy. Slocum further argues their tactics mirror those of abusers. Narcissistic victimhood, a term coined by , is common in individuals with these traits.Cluster B(ike) activists and their behavior has been mentioned several times here.
Another Day, Another Preventable Bicyclist Fatality, Another Despicable Cluster B(ike) Activist Take
Does Flax meet these criteria?
The backing for this stems from Flax’s equally passionate but less romanticized writing about bicycling, most notably his dogmatic demand for “protected” bicycle lanes, “transportation justice,” and his animosity towards anyone or anything that stands in the way of them.
Deconstructing a Particularly Awful Story about Dead Cyclists
Killing Cyclists Is As American As Mass ShootingsThe Infuriating Conclusion of the NYPD’s Investigation into Robyn Hightman’s Death
A Conversation with a Writer Who Thinks Bike Advocates are Dishonest
and of course, appropriating
, CYCLISTS ARE ENTITLED
These takes map almost perfectly onto the Drama Triangle with Flax’s hyperfocus on the idea he’s some sort of Savior for the “oppressed” bicyclists. In this Drama Triangle, the individuals, deemed Persecutors or Oppressors, are not just the motoring majority but also a small, yet vocal group of cyclists which he deems the vehicular cyclists.
Vehicular cycling is a term coined by the late John Forester to describe a bicyclist who obeys the rules of the road for drivers of vehicles but is more often that not strawmanned by Cluster B(ike) Activists to mean virtually any fellow bicyclist who doesn’t agree with their agenda and ideology. There is almost a never ending list of what this term means to them but the most common one stems around incorrect definitions such as cycling “like you’re a car,” or cycling using lane control one-hundred percent of the time and of course, opposition to bicycling infrastructure.
A key example of the blatant misrepresentation of that term is here:
Flax insists that vehicular cyclists don’t represent the majority of cyclists, which likely has a sliver of truth, but Flax often arrogantly insists he somehow does know what’s best for this majority similarly to Jeremy Blakespear. When it comes to covering some genuinely horrific deaths of bicyclists, Flax puts on the hat of the ultimate vulture1. It doesn’t matter the context, it’s always the fault of the driver, law enforcement, bike lane opponents, the occasional journalist actually doing journalism, or some other external force and he’s the victim’s biggest hero. The person on the bike killed is always the victim who did no wrong and to suggest anything else is “victim blaming.”
The truth is that “vehicular cycling” or whatever label one wants to call it maybe daunting to novices but it’s is not that difficult. All the poo-pooing from those who have created all the bold-faced lies misrepresenting it insist that “everyday cyclists,” young people, old people, racial minorities or women can’t do it. Ultimately that rhetoric is disempowering and is an example of soft bigotry of low expectations.
Whose who lie, deceive, and misrepresent the concept of vehicular cycling often blame the lack of bike lanes or general mode share on what they believe is almost omnipotent power from “vehicular cyclists” akin to a Q-anon-esque conspiracy. Flax is in the club of those who viciously attack these strawmen, almost to a delusional level. Call it “Vehicular Cycling Derangement Syndrome.”
When Flax isn’t getting “platformed” by his buddies to write puff and sob pieces he takes to social media. His usual temper tantrum grounds are X and now BlueSky although he’s “infiltrated” cycling groups on Facebag.
has noted the traits of performative narcissism, characterized by antagonism, scorn, and histrionics, is prevalent in radical progressivist activism, particularly in politicians and activists associated with the contemporary mainstream left and is amplified by algorithmic social media. Cluster B(ike) activists tend to be avid social media users.Flax’s primary target are the so-called vehicular cyclists and especially so-called vehicular cyclists from San Diego.2
Spoiler alert: Flax does “care” immensely about these cyclists speaking at public meetings and sharing Cycling Savvy material. Cycling Savvy’s programs and materials are often misrepresented or slandered just as often and as insidiously as “vehicular cycling” often from people who admit they’ve never taken the courses.
Is Flax exaggerating?
These are the three posts that triggered this tantrum.
Perhaps it’s the LA v.s. SD rivalry?
Or perhaps it’s because the suburb of Lemon Grove was home to Forester for the last decades of his life?
Flax interviewed Forester back in 2019 months before his death. Offline, Forester said he refused to do the interview unless Flax posted the entire transcript unedited. One can wonder why Forester had such a demand. That didn’t stop propaganda rag Streetsblog from taking parts of the interview out of context though.
Or perhaps it’s because another prominent “vehicular cyclist”
is also based in San Diego as is former Olympian and outspoken critic of Encinitas cycle traps Shaun Wallace, who lives rent-free in the head of another notorious Cluster B(ike) Activist."Simple Truths" about Cluster B(ike) Activist Andy Boenau's Bullshit Attack on Shaun Wallace
Flax reserves a special fetish for Serge though.
These critics of vehicular cycling often assert that only “strong and fearless” people can cycle that way and often invoke woke identity politics dismissing the practice as something delegated to old white men.
Those who endorse vehicular cycling have varied views. Some have disconnected themselves from that label, instead opting to bicycle driver due to the emotional baggage of both the Cluster B(ike) activists and Forester’s harsh and disagreeable personality. Many have a far more nuanced view on bike lanes supporting some that actually have proper designs and not supporting others such as dangerous “protected” and door zone bike lanes.
Flax is no person for nuance though.
Flax is, ironically, a white male in his late fifties if the photo at the beginning of the post wasn’t obvious.
Which of course he atones for Robin DeAngelo style.
He’s also a great Cathy Newman impersonator with no ability to listen and a knack for putting his projections into the mouths of others.
Flax is quick to close the discussion when he’s losing or can’t dominate the conversation, and typical of the snobby and elitist woke progressive he’s quick to label people trolls, racists, sexists, or “gun nuts.”
Flax is, of course, one of those people who insists “road” or “traffic violence” is akin to “gun violence.” This “link” was discussed extensively in Is there Really an “Epidemic” of “Traffic Violence? Part I
Flax is excited when he “pisses off” so-called vehicular cyclists.
This exchange came after Cycling Savvy instructor Gary Cziko (of underwear tribe fame) met in person with Flax to try to teach him safe and legal bicycling techniques after Flax’s repeated claims of close calls and near misses with motorists.
Lastly, Flax took to whining about Remco Evenepoel's dooring. Who was the villain? Of course.
But numerous “vehicular cyclists” have tried to communicate over the years to flax the hazards of dooring, which he’s well aware of because he’s whined about being doored before. The latest attempt to do that, although not specifically addressed to Flax was published this very week here.
Along with a take down of the biggest bullshit other than door zone bike lanes themselves: the Dutch Reach.
At one point he insisted that aiming for the person opening the door or the door’s hinge is what he’d to the next time he encountered such a situation.
That’s a great way to win a Darwin Award and of course the usual label of “blaming the victim.” But if you intentionally place yourself in harm’s way so irresponsibly, you deserve to take at least some of the blame.
In interviews for his book, Flax is quoted as saying, “Cyclist Strength Comes from Unity,” which to some may sound cutesy and fluffy but to others comes off as a slogan from a dystopian novel or a tankie’s Che t-shirt. He’s honestly a good writer, has connections in the upper echelons of the publishing industry and has a deep passion for cycling. If he were to actually practice consistently the most charitable take of that phrase though, he’d at a minimum change his despicable behavior. Flax could be a force for good but instead he distracts from real issues such as life saving and empowering cycling education and further perpetuates the negative (and sometimes true) stereotypes of some cyclists.
He’s the perfect poster child for Cluster B(ike) activism.
Vulture in this context stems from Larry Correia in the first chapter of his book In Defense of the Second Amendment to describe the ways anti-gun activist dishonestly use gun deaths (often horrific mass shootings) dishonestly for their political agendas.
Every time there is a mass murder event, the vultures launch. It’s fascinating in a sickening way. A bunch of people get killed, and within minutes the same crew of anti-gun zealots shows up all over the news and social media, pushing the same tired proposals that we’ve either tried before or logic tells us simply can’t work. With zero hesitation they strike while the iron is hot, trying to push through legislation before there can be any coherent thought about the repercussions. We’ve seen this over and over and over again. We saw them succeed in England. We saw them succeed in Australia and New Zealand. We’ve seen it succeed here before.
Yet when anyone from my side responds to these ghouls, then we’re shouted at that we’re insensitive and how dare we speak about politics in this moment of tragedy. We should just shut our stupid mouths out of respect for the dead… while they are free to promote policies that will simply lead to a higher body count next time. If gun rights organizations say something, they are bloodthirsty monsters, and if they don’t say anything, then their silence is damning guilt.
It is hypocritical in the extreme, and when I speak out against this, I’m called every name in the book, they say I want dead children in schools and malls, or they wish death upon my family. If I focus on logic or rationality, I’m a cold-hearted monster. If I become angry because they are promoting policies that are flawed and will accomplish the exact opposite of their stated goals, then I am a horrible person for being angry. Perhaps I shouldn’t be allowed to own guns at all.
The vultures never hesitate to lie or emotionally manipulate decent, well-meaning people who just want to keep their communities safe. They prey on the public’s good intentions and lack of knowledge. If you question them, they’ll browbeat you into silence. They don’t want debate. They want compliance.
Editor of Bicycling mag is a dubious bona fides. I've known two who were better writers than Flax and also only marginally aware as cyclists-- as and Flax and Evandeepol. The publishers only want Eds who raise subscriptions and doing that through fear mongering is perfectly legit to them.
Also we must see that his status as former Ed and "spokesperson" for the ignorant bikers of America positions him for government payouts, now or in his next gig, either as Consultant or Flackmeister for the Infra Industry. It's always about the money
Wow. I just ride a damn bike. It's transportation and exercise, a personal choice, not a political statement. I am and have always been pretty pragmatic about not getting killed, so it's difficult for me to imagine this guy's mindset. I haven't participated in anything close to bike activism culture for a decade. The vibe was "silly but mostly harmless" when I last checked. I never dreamed there could be so much cringey California beef about it on X-Twitter. Thanks for documenting this little corner of the breakdown of civil sanity, I guess.