I’ve been on the receiving end as well when I was a kid. I had a can of soda thrown in my face while biking and had cars swerve as if they were going to hit me on purpose. There are definitely crazies out there. But I think there are also people who only get really mad when they’re being held up and it’s the cyclist who is in the wrong.

Valid point and well-supported! While we like our own Kool-Aid it’s nice to see not everyone is drinking from the same pitcher.

Hey, bottom line… there’s no excuse for riding 5 wide and preventing motorists from passing safely. You’ll be happy to hear that we’re focused on both sides of that problem. As a matter of fact, we are beginning a new campaign and one of the cornerstones is encouraging cyclists to sign a pledge of 6 points… one of which is to not ride more than two abreast. Another is that when riding two abreast that we will not “impede” traffic.

I would invite you to visit the Florida Bicycle Association’s site for a more thorough discussion of what’s “practicable” and “impeding traffic”. Both seem like simple terms, but can be more involved
than you might expect.

http://www.floridabicycle.org/rules/bikelaw

At the end of the day, however, we’re really talking about safety and courtesy. And if you wound up late for work because of a lack of courtesy from cyclists, I personally think you made the right choice. I would have been upset too, but that’s still better than putting another person’s (or maybe your own) life at risk. Thank you!

-Eric Ferree

A bicyclist who is not traveling at the same speed of other traffic must ride as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway. A bicyclist may leave the right-most portion of the road in the following situations: when passing, making a left turn, to avoid road hazards, or when a lane is too narrow for a bicycle and a car to share safely. (see Roadway Position Explained)

Especially annoying when there is a bike trail a few feet from the road. It would be safer for everyone if you just used the trail. But no, you’re entitled to ride on the road so you do it even though the way Florida roads are they’re sometimes barely wide enough for cars to drive in two directions let alone have bikes too.