I would have to agree that the initial example about the walking and cycling is probably not the way per se is supposed to be used. It seems out of place they way it was used. I like to think of per se as referring to something as having an intrinsic property or nature. So for instance you could say "The man didn't talk much. He wasn't rude per se, he just seemed to be a naturally quiet person" This is the way I have personally seen per se used most often. You can see that per se in this case is used to clarify the perception you are trying to portray to someone while speaking in order that they do not get they wrong idea. To break it down even further, per se is used to point out that the man is not rude by nature but instead he is just a quiet or shy person. In this way, the person being communicated to does not assume the opposite of what you are actually trying to portray.

Here's what this website said about it: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/per%20se Per se is the phrase to use when you want to refer to a particular thing on its own. It is not this Latin phrase, per se, that is important, but rather the concept it represents. Per se is handy when you need to single out a particular element of a bigger thing. So you might say, "The song, per se, wasn't a bad choice; it was your singing voice that was atrocious." In Latin it means "by itself." When you want to sound a little smart, inject a per se into what you're saying. It's one of those phrases, like "insomuch" or "as it were," that helps win arguments. But to me, "per se", sounds like it can be replaced by "for example", in some cases. It has the same effect of putting emphasis on what you have said. "This sentence, per se, is an example."

Well, in that example, it means very little at all, and to my mind adds nothing to the sentence. But generally, it means "in itself". So you might say something like "Modesty about your achievements is not a bad thing per se [in itself], but if you undersell yourself in a job interview, you aren't doing either yourself or your potential employer any favours".

I suspect that the person who wrote this sentence doesn't know what 'per se' means. It means nothing in this sentence, so you can ignore it. When used correctly, 'per se' means 'in itself', and the other member have given you some good examples.

I'm not sure that's a proper use of per se. I can't think of a reason why it would be in this sentence. Normally per se is used like this: "Going to school doesn't make you a smart person, per se" It means that there are other factors to consider. Some people who go to school are not smart.