LOL Moni. As one who rides a bike as primary transportation (I don't have a car), I can relate. 99% of the drivers are courteous, mindful that they have a lot more speed and mass than I do, gently toot just in case I didn't hear them behind me, wave when they pass and occasionally yell "Good for you! I should do that." I ride primarily on country roads with narrow or no shoulders, no bike lanes, but um, I do have the right-of-way. I have to yield to pedestrians and horses (that's the hierarchy legally - if I hit or spook a horse, I'm in deep kimchee. I regularly encounter both :-) For drivers, I move over as far as I can without riding up a bank, falling in the ditch or hitting the guard rail :-)

Then you encounter the last 1%. They scare me.

One of the reasons I don't ride a bike! DSIL rides hers to the park most days in the summer, and she has had more than one close call. And she is like you, helmet, reflective clothing, and she rides into traffic, so she can see the traffic coming at her and can hit the ditch if need be. (This is a paved single lane highway with literally no shoulders.) She has hit the ditch more than once!!

I truly believe in Karma, Moni, and if she wasn't "paying" for something she did in the past, she will be paying for her actions today. You did the right thing by not confronting her. If it was a Karma payback day, she already is dealing with enough. (Although I would be fighting the urge to go and "punch her lights out" myself)

Happy Mothers Day.

Was she an older person? A few seem to feel the need to get into the desired turn lane, or lane closest to that, pretty far out. I've seen people creeping in the left lane and much later, see them make a left turn. She may not have been able to gauge how much room she'd need to go around you and still make her turn. I'm so glad she didn't hit you and hope she figures out that it's a very bad idea to honk at a cyclist.

OHMY.....MY DH IS ONE of those people who get into the lane he expects to turn into MILES ahead of time. We oftentimes follow garbage trucks and every moving thing SLOWLY for miles, while other cars gracefully pass us by in the other lane. (4 lane road). If I speak up (rarely, but my teeth are clenched) he smartly tells me "what difference does it make?". Gosh, I wish I was driving again.

Ok, I know the laws! Bicyclists must follow the same laws as people in cars, except the speed. You ride WITH traffic.

Best is not to ride right at the edge of the road, cause then people pass without actually going around you, and scare the crap out of you.

Reno here in OKC is a four lane road.

That lovely woman didn't turn right away, but about 1/3 to 1/2 mile after she passed me on the right. There really was no need for her to stay behind me, nor for her not to pass me on the left like she would have, if I had been in a car.

Yes, I wear a helmet, and high visible clothing, and I have a rear view mirror as well.

I was just irked, that she could not be bothered to go around me.

Moni

Moni....your right! Bikes follow traffic laws. It's dangerous and against the law to ride against traffic.....hope no one still does THAT.

I've had people follow me in a car, in a park, one way streets, in the pedestrian lane ......when I'm running....go figure.....? lol

I get really nervous around bicyclists. Maybe she had a bad situation. I know I did last year, though I would never honk at one.

The light had turned green, and I was making my way through the intersection in the right lane. I had just gotten through it when all of a sudden about 15 cyclists come flying into my lane. They were coming from the street with the red light and they didn't stop or even hesitate before turning right into the same lane I was in. We hit the lane at the same time, and since there was no bike lane they were in the middle of it. I very nearly ran some over as they just cut right in front of my car.

It was awful, I didn't know what to do as I didn't want to hit them, and there were cars all around me so I couldn't get into another lane. Finally a nice SUV let me into the middle lane.

I watched them do the same thing at the next big intersection. They had a red light and just turned without hesitating into the right lane where cars in the opposite direction were turning on their left green arrow into the same lane. They're going to get themselves killed. I'm all for sharing the road but the rules have to be followed by everyone!

Some people just look for a reason to get bent out of shape.

No Jeff, I'm sure she was just a nervous driver and didn't realize how scary she was to cyclists. But again, shame on her for honking.

You can say "panties in a wad" and not get deleted? I've said much milder and had my post eliminated...just POOF...gone. HAHAHA!

Maybe she was having a bad hair day...ha!

ArkGirl, I said something once and someone complained and I heard from Tamara. It wasn't even nasty. That flag on the upper right corner is just too handy for some people. ;-/

Sjerin...I'd like to give her the benefit of the doubt, but, nervous drivers don't blow the horn for you to move. And for sure don't follow too close to a cyclist.

jasdip, I said "I had a brain f**t" HA! Oh so terrible...right? I forget about that flag they have now. I'll have to start using that sucker. HEEHEE! j/k

I guess you just never know what little things some people would find offensive and I don't give a second thought to.

The flag has awesome powers Arkansas girl , don't let it go to your head. Lol

sometimes my panties get in a wad too ;)

My boss trained me how to deal with angry customers: Don't ever take it personally. Maybe their cat died or they just had a big fight with their spouse. Give the person the benefit of the doubt. She didn't trail you to harass you. It's just a temporary problem in her universe.

We don't have all that much power, believe me! We can 'flag' a post but have zero power to delete someone's comments, thank goodness.

The offending post will be masked on your screen, but not on anyone else's. The flagging notifies the administrators to take a look; a post or thread will be yanked only if deemed necessary.

It's a great tool, absolutely, as it lets Tamara or others know of a problem. I flag flagrant spam when I see it. And there's been a couple of incidences in the garden forums with an irrational, mean spirited individual who felt it his right to spout all kinds of ugly comments. At first his posts were deleted and I suspect he was given a warning. When he was finally banned, it was a huge relief to everybody.

I don't think that I've flagged anyone in this forum. But there sure have been times in the past where I would have.

I also think that certain words are triggers for automatic deletion of a post. That's the only way to keep such a large community from becoming a hotbed of potty mouths, lol.