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.

[Geonz]

People thinl I'm extremely intrepid - I don't even have a car - but the fact is that if I rode a road and got enough hostility, I"d figure I was simply playing wiht the odds and I would stop. Martyrdom happens too often already in the cycling world - I don't need to go out of my way to add to the numbers, especially when an awful lot of people would say "and what was she doing riding that road anyway???"

[beccaB]

I identify with your situation. I went with my husband to plot out and time a path to my work, and we both almost got hit by a car at an intersection. The driver looked right at us and proceeded to pull out directly in front of us. I found a way to go that avoids that intersection, a small bit longer distance. But since then I have made every excuse for not doing it. Arrive at work sweaty, being teased by co-workers(they aren't the fit crowd-exact opposite), changing clothes, having to bike home tired, after work commitments, etc.
I need to grow some courage giving body parts too!

[NbyNW]

Don't know if this is an option, but is there any chance the road would feel safer if you left home 30-40 minutes earlier?

My commute is entirely on city streets, but I find that if I leave home even 20 minutes earlier, there are fewer cars on the road, and everything is quiet and calmer. It's easier for me to find gaps in traffic, like when I need to turn off of a side street onto a main street.

Same with on the way home. If I happen to work an hour late, I notice that there are fewer cars, pedestrians, and other cyclists to dodge.

Not that I want to make a habit out of spending more time at work, but I figure when I get there a bit earlier I don't have to rush through cleaning myself up, changing, getting a snack, etc.

We have a guy in our office who works 7am to 4pm. He drives, but I think with those hours he beats the worst traffic. It seems that there are a lot of people around here who work those hours, regardless of what type of transportation they use.

[Melalvai]

I vote for the church parking lot, and ask their permission for using it.
I really like the idea of buying Share the Road signs. I will remember that one.

[Tri Girl]

Heck no, you're not a sissy! I would be nervous on that stretch, too. You gotta feel safe, and if you can't then you find a away around it so you can still commute- even if it's a few miles less.
I stopped commuting to work because of a scary spot mid-way of my commute. It's a place where the homeless people sleep and there's really no way around it (without adding about 5 miles to my already long 26 mile commute) After being yelled at and scared, I decided it's not worth my nerves being shattered. I'm going to find a new way, but when I'm ready. You go with your gut, like Tahoedirtgirl said, and do what feels safe to you.

Keep at it, tho and keep enjoying those commutes!