Pictures from Colorado! I love the sign instructing cars to YIELD to bikes.

I used to really love to go out riding, it was always a challenge to see how fast I could go, if I could get up that steep climb, listening for that satisfying solid click as my shoe clips into the pedal on the first try. Negotiating around the cars, feeling the cold rain and other times the hot sun, and always listening to constant breaths in and out, in and out. Feeling alive.

But then I started noticing these abrupt interruptions, the horns beeping, the bottles being thrown, people making rude gestures from their cars, people yelling out the window at me. And the interruptions seemed to become more frequent. Was it that I was riding more or was it that I was riding in new places, or was I just becoming more aware of the rudeness and intolerance going on around me? It started to take all the fun away, how dare they rob me of my peaceful ride. I have every right to be there as they do. On the other hand there are many very courteous drivers, they drive patiently behind me as I do 5 miles per hour up a really steep climb b/c they can't see over the top of the hill. They swerve widely around me just in case I need to come over to avoid a hole or debris. So I'm growing my thick skin and trying not to let a handful of very rude individuals cause me to be down or to change my cycling habits.

On Saturday Jeff and I went for a 48 mile ride around Baltimore County and we didn't have any issues, no horn honking, no bottle throwing, no rude gestures, etc. So maybe the more we ride the more people will become accustomed to bikers and the better it will be! Can't we have a day where no one is allowed to drive and EVERYONE has to bike, walk, or take the bus? Maybe that would help to minimize the rudeness.