Cyclist harassment law in Missouri town

[TrekTheKaty]

OK, this was interesting. I'm in Colorado with a friend who owns a house out here. We rode up a country road outside Breckenridge that goes up to Boreas pass ON MOUNTAIN BIKES. As we cruise up the middle of the road, pulling over for the few vehicles that come by, I begin to tell her about the law in Columbia and the front page of the KC Star (she has family there).

She says (on a mountain bike, pedaling up the middle of the country road), "I hate bicyclists. They think they own the road. They ride out on Hwy T and I have to slow down to go around them on the windy road--and it takes me longer to get to the feed store."

Huh?

I politely explained the cyclists that were hurt or killed, minding their own business. When this doesn't sink in, I explain the red-neck on a country road that almost clipped my DH last weekend--not because he was taking up the road, but simply for sport.

She argued, "I wouldn't ride on the road." I told her, "I do." So hopefully, next time she passes cyclists she will look closer and realize they are a person with family and friends--maybe one of her friends.

She finally settled with a "I guess there are two sides to the story." So talk to your "non-cycling" friends about this. Be prepared to give a gentle explanation to the rights and dangers of cycling.