Am I being a sissy?

[Mr. Bloom]

If you're feeling unsafe, that's not being sissy...but your instinct speaking.

But here's a radical idea...that will pay for itself in just about 50 gallons of gas saved:

Fund Your Own "Share The Road" campaign on your street

Go to the City/Council and offer to personally buy two "Share the Road" signs (one both ways) and ask them to install them for you.

First, the signs are not incredibly expensive.
Second, I think people will be more respectful of your presence when they see a legal sign that announces your right to be there.

By your description, I'm guessing you're in the hills of East Tennessee. We live in a non-cycling friendly area of Indiana...but the local government loved the idea of "Share The Road" signs that someone else paid for...as our State Law is written, they almost can't refuse for the price of installation. Excepts from Tennessee's Code:

(a) Every person riding a bicycle upon a roadway is granted all
of the rights and is subject to all of the duties applicable
to the driver of a vehicle by this chapter ....


(c) (1) This subsection (c) shall be known and may be cited as the
"Jeff Roth and Brian Brown Bicycle Protection Act of 2007.”

(2)The operator of a motor vehicle, when overtaking and
passing a bicycle proceeding in the same direction on the
roadway, shall leave a safe distance between the motor
vehicle and the bicycle of not less than three feet (3')
and shall maintain the clearance until safely past the
overtaken bicycle.

Let the law work for you! Good Luck!

If you're interested, PM Silver or me and we'll get you the name of the company that we've bought signs from.