I have been lurking here entirely too long, so I'll just insert myself into the conversation since the subject so moves me. I don't even bother trying to ride my bike on the roads anymore because it just doesn't seem safe. I am aware that people are hostile towards cyclists in general, but they are doubly so towards overweight women on bikes. Ten years ago a guy in a car full of hooting teenage boys tried to hit me with the open door as I was going over a bridge, and the situation here (20 some miles north of Seattle) seems to be getting worse. I only ride on trails now, but even then....well, just last month a teenage boy yelled "Fat ***!!" at me as I was riding along the Centenial trail. I was so shocked and angered that I blurted out something to the effect that it was better to be a fat *** than an *** hole. Not the cleverest of comebacks, but what ARE people thinking?!