Holy moly. I don't think the OP meant to raise such a stink, and she sure wasn't attacking anyone personally about how they descend a hill except maybe the cyclist she was following that bugged her so much. I don't understand why some of you are taking her comments so personally.

I took her comments about the safety of the road to be indicative of her own experience (limited) and comfort level (low) with steep roads. She said she doesn't ride this road because she thinks it's not safe. I'm okay with that. As a less-experienced cyclist, I make the same choice when it comes to riding in traffic. Maybe OP was projecting her own misgivings about this road onto the cyclist. I'm just saying, maybe.

Grog, thanks for that detailed and well-reasoned list of reasons to take the lane. I didn't know half of what you were talking about because I don't do hills. Or traffic. I'm just not there yet. I'm strictly a quiet-neighborhood-street/MUP girl. But now I'll be a lot more cognizant of the dangers should I find myself on a one-and-a-half-lane road with a 15% decline.

I'd probably have gotten annoyed at the cyclist, too, if I thought she was snotty, rude, and discourteous to me and my neighbors. Some people just aren't open to friendly, well-meaning overtures, especially if those people are deep in a focused workout and trying to concentrate on getting up that hill one more time. Or maybe the OP wasn't the first resident of that road to comment on her being there. That could make her defensive if she thought people were complaining about her riding up and down their private road.

I would imagine a lot of us have been in situations where cyclists have bugged us when we were driving. It happened to me a couple of days ago, even. But still, I think OP's point is that this cyclist DOES have the opportunity to safely pull out and let faster traffic go by, but she chooses not to. It's a little fuzzy, not knowing what the actual incline is and how fast they were actually going, whether or not it would actually be safe for her to do so, but after being snubbed by her, yeah, I think I'd probably have the same reaction as the OP.

Nice is still nice. Manners count. But so does safety. Take the lane if that's the safest thing for you to do, but realize if cars are piling up behind you that you're putting an awful lot of faith in other people's driving, even if you do have every right to be there. Of course, that's true any time we're on the road, on four wheels or two.

One of the driving rules my grandfather taught me: "It's better to be right than dead." Meaning, be a defensive driver and if someone's going to do something aggressive or stupid, don't get in their way, even if you have the right of way. Doesn't that go for cycling, too? (I concede that that may be difficult if you're on a 20% decline going 50mph.)

Please be patient with each other. Those of you who are more experienced (Mr. Bloom, Mimi, Knot, Trek, BleekerStGirl), thank you for sharing your perspectives. I always learn so much from you and I look forward to your posts.


Roxy