I hate reading things like this. Where I live in MD, we have a road that leads down into DC called Beach Dr. It runs through a park called Rock Creek Park and much of it is closed to vehicle traffic during the weekends. You can get a 25-mi ride if you start at the end of Beach Dr out in MD and ride into DC to the farthest closed point and back. There is a narrow paved trail that runs through the grassy area beside the road for most of the way, but it's usually packed with hikers, babyjoggers, kids, dogs, etc.

Not only have I been yelled at to use the trail (while travelling 25mph in the 25 zone, which is the speed limit on the entire parkway), I've also been swerved at, cut off, turned right in front of, etc. I've even had motorists stop and get out of the car wanting some "action" when I've protested the threats to my life.

In my case, I was told by a park police officer to always get the license number, although I'm not sure what he'd do with it. The problem is that these people see the roads as their own private race track, despite the fact that it's a park, and they don't think anything should be allowed on their race track other than their fellow race drivers.

None of them know the law, and if they did, they'd probably disagree with it, which means continued hostilities. I think the only thing that would help would be to make hitting a cyclist be some sort of HUGE penalty, then publicize that law.