i recently moved and noticed a HUGE difference in the way i am treated when i'm riding. i used to live in santa cruz, and dealt with a great deal of abuse on a regular basis. it was almost daily. the most common occurances were yelling, of course, spitting, and bottle throwing. i got spit on sooooooo many times. thankfully it never hit me in the face, although one time it hit my sunglasses. the bottles mostly missed me but sometimes would hit my rear wheel or my back. at times there were people who would try to run me off the road by slowing down and driving into the bike lane until there was nowhere for me to go and i had to stop or crash. after all that, i really did not mind the yelling, because i was mostly concerned about it being paired with some sort of physical assualt like a slushie or a spit wad.

at one point i began taking pics with my cell phone of these people when i could. interstingly...most were in pickup trucks. i quickly learned nobody cares about these pics and it is up to me to protect myself.

after i moved...to contra costa county....not ONE single incident!!! i swear. in fact, people are even, dare i say, nice. one time i passed a young girl and she said, "have a nice ride!" i still get dirty looks from the yuppy moms of course, but nothing bad has happened. i was apprehensive the other day when i approached two teen boys and i knew i had to pass close by to them and they were staring at me...and as i passed they nodded at me and said hello. i thought to myself....wow, not in santa cruz anymore.

i say ignore them and be glad their words are gone and behind you.