[bitbuilder]

People tend to notice the neon clad roadie on an expensive bike taking the lane on a busy thoroughfare.

People don't tend to notice the guy riding his Wal-Mart mountain bike on the sidewalk on his way to work.

And they also don't tend to notice all the sensible, practical, riders who know to take the (relatively) car free residential side streets en route to wherever they need to be.

[the_snooze]

People also don't notice all the single-occupant cars that make up the bulk of road congestion. Drivers should want more people to ride bikes, because each represents approximately one single-occupant car removed from the road.

[watwut]

People tend to see what they want to see. If they want the riders be the rich sports guys, they will notice all the rich sport guys and ignore everyone else.