Originally Posted by margoC

Exactly!

For the record, in my younger idealistic days I too used to be a purist, well maybe not to the point of getting my bowels all in an uproar over someone doing something that did not affect me, but I too believed that bicycles should be able to ride on the road, with traffic, yada yada yada, blah blah blah.

Now I am older and appreciate not having broken bones. I read all these thread about being hit by a car, sometimes more than once. If that's what bicycling and commuting is all about then you can have it. I do what I have to do to get to work in one piece and it doesn't affect anybody else. Nobody is on the sidewalks if I ride on them, nobody is going down the road when I cross it not at a light. If all the cars at an intersection are stopped (because of turning lanes this sometimes happens) and I have a chance to cross the road without being bunched up in traffic then the cars should thank me for staying out of there way as far as I'm concerned.

I go to many differeant forums, it would shock you if you knew what the general public thinks of bicyclists on the road. You might also want to know that many roadies think commuters should stay off the road, anyone that cannot maintain a 30mph pace should stay off the road.

I guess that's a good way to spread the joys of bicycling.