I'll say one thing for this officer - while he may be misguided on bicycle rights/regulations, it is quite obvious that his intentions were not to harass; far from it. He meant no harm, unlike most incidents that get published here at A&S.

Call it safety nannyism, but the fellow did not seem rude in the first place - seems as if he is a decent enough fellow that needs to learn just a bit about the cycling laws in your area. Something tells me that the officer portrayed in the O/P's conversation transcript is an individual who would be willing to accept the existence of such laws if he were to look them up - he seems of a decent enough character.

-Kurt