I, too, thought that the article was very well written. Often, as a driver, I am annoyed by cyclists in our area who do not obey the laws of the road. Sadly, it is these few who give the rest of us a bad name. As a ride leader or participant, I am very aware of traffic and the traffic laws, and do my best to have everyone in the group abide by the rules.

I have also been guilty of becoming angry with motorists who sometimes do really stupid things, putting me in danger. However, often those motorists are not aware that they are doing anything wrong - I truly believe that many think I am a recreational cyclist just putting along, so they can easily turn left/right in front of me with no consquence. They have no idea that I am either moving at the same speed as traffic, or just slightly below. However, flipping off a motorist, yelling at them, pounding on their cars - those reflect more badly on us as cyclists than doing nothing.

Watching the video actually made me pretty angry at the cyclists! The fact that the woman actually got out of the van was astounding, given the mob mentality and what was happening.

The short of it is that we should all think of ourselves as ambassadors. Don't give motorists any reason to perpetuate the thought that all cyclists are jerks. If someone does something to you that is offensive or dangerous, don't react negatively (you can try just smiling and waving, and then curse under your breath ).

Now if only we could all get along .

SheFly