hollered at

Riding along O.B. Riley with my co-workers, an older gentleman hollered at me for riding just inside the bike line, rather than outside of it. He must have failed to observe the construction zone, the rough road and the divots, holes, gravel piles, etc. populating the bike lane area. A cyclist has to come out of the lane and ride on the poorly done road area, typically utilized by the four-wheeled coffins.

That is our statutory right, to come out of the bike lane to avoid foreign objects. A car is required to yield when that happens.

Perhaps it was asking too much of a car to slow down, allow me the space, and then resume their consumption of fossil fuels. He had to roll up along side me, tell me how I am his best friend, I am number one in his book and then slowly accelerate. To his credit, he *was* driving a fuel efficient Japanese car. But that is all the credit he gets.

Do drivers of cars not understand that they are driving 2-3 tons of machinery? while I am riding on 18 pounds of thin metal with nothing for protection other than the 30SPF I sprayed on? I have seen irate drivers almost cause head-ons with opposing traffic, because they were more concerned with yelling, swearing and telling us we are number one with them.

Drivers need to get over themselves. This is not just about cyclists versus cars, but everyone versus cars. Pedestrians mostly...many cars do not yield to peds at legal crosswalks, often due to cell phone usage.

Soon, hopefully, there will be a time when cell phones cannot be used by drivers while the car is in motion. Until then, the drivers will sometimes pull over to talk. While blocking the bike lane, no doubt.