OP, interesting write up. Thank You!

I live in a town with a population of ~21,000. I'm active in the large and growing cycling culture here. It's mostly Triathletes and Roadies on weekend group rides with the associated weekday training/fitness rides. The owner of the LBS and I know of exactly one person who uses their bike for transportation because they choose to and not because they have to. That one person would be me.

Your comment regarding vehicular cycling rings true. I grew up in Los Angeles on a bike and I can tell you we don't have any traffic vs cycling issues where I live now. Nor do we have any cycling infrastructure. However my neighbors, both cyclists and none cyclists, think I'm some mixture of dare devil / idiot for riding where and how I ride. It's all a matter of perception, I don't know how you change that.