tjspiel

I've replayed the whole thing in my head a few times and it's possible that moving could have yielded a positive outcome. Her original tone didn't strike me as very friendly but wasn't overtly hostile either. If I had moved she might have verbally thanked me, nodded or otherwise acknowledged my gesture.

It's also quite possible she would have drove off muttering "damn bikers" under her breath and I would been kicking myself for acquiescing to a person who was clearly in the wrong. There's no way for me to know.

Aside from the bad vibe I got from her right from the start, there really wasn't a good place for me to move to. If I had moved to the right up against the parked SUV (like she expected), she would have had enough room to go by, but just barely. Much less room than I would find comfortable. I could have also scooted forward into the crosswalk and moved in front of the parked SUV. Not really a dangerous thing, but I don't belong in the crosswalk either. Finally, I could have unclipped my foot, gotten off the bike and walked it back behind the SUV. Planting myself behind a parked vehicle didn't seem like such a hot idea.

Now I'm sure to some drivers it may not seem unreasonable for a cyclist to take one of those options. It certainly wouldn't have killed me. However, I got the distinct impression that she wouldn't have interpreted my moving as an act of kindness or doing her any kind of favor but rather as something I "should" do. So, my stubborn side kicked in. Maybe it was just a power trip.