Cycling on the roadways, as with driving a motor vehicle, is a privilege not a right. As such, there are certain rules and regulations in force that we are expected to obey. In Indiana (and probably every other state as well) the legislative code considers a bicycle to be a vehicle subject to the "rules of the road" -- no exceptions. I wouldn't dream of disregarding a stop sign in my vehicle; I won't do it on my bike.

I live in the country, and when the corn's down there are scads of seldom-traveled intersections with visibility of 1/2 mile or more. Do I stop? Yes. Foot down? No. My thinking is this -- you never know who might be looking out a nearby window, etc. An impressionable teen who thinks, "Hhhhhmmm... pushing the envelope... everyone does it..." A seen-it-all grandfather who thinks, "Those pesky cyclists... think they own the road..." As you can tell, I come from the black-is-black-and-white-is-white school of ethics -- not many shades of grey here.

That being said, we don't ride under the types of traffic conditions some of you encounter. We rarely have to navigate stop lights, and when we do they are on a simple timer system, so no worries about triggering a green, etc. Didn't mean to sound preachy; I respect all of you ladies who brave the roads in search of a cycling fix!