So I'm cruising south on La Brea with my messenger bag loaded with groceries just barely outside of the door zone of parked traffic. I'm not flying, maybe 16 mph and I overtake a recreational cyclist fully in the door zone. There are two lanes of traffic to my left and a middle turn lane. I signal and then move into the middle of the middle lane, safely go around the recreational cyclist, and then get right again just outside of the door zone.

Next thing I know some motorcycle cop is pulling alongside of me and starts lecturing me as were cruising about how unsafely I'm cycling and that I need to stay as far right as possible. This pisses me off because the most unsafe thing that's happening is this guy distracting me while I'm cruising down a big arterial and second I tell him that he's flat out wrong and needs to read the motor vehicle code again as I have the right to be as far right as is safely possible, which I read to mean out of the door zone.

At this point he directs me to the curb and changes his story that he just wants me to be more careful.
So I reply about what? It's either ride careful or more dangerously as far right as possible. And well we know how much cop's love having someone question their authority, so this guy looks like he's about ready to pull a Rodney King on me and I decide to just nod along to his lecture. But then he starts in about the proper way to ride a bike and he's just telling me this for my own safety that I need to get as far right so that cars can safely pass me. Which is just wrong, so I tell the cop to go back and brush up on his bicycle law and further that he knows he is wrong or he would write me a ticket. It reminded me of some of the conversations I've had on this forum.

It just makes me sad that it's not only the drivers that need an education down here, but even law enforecement. BTW there is no bike lane on this road and even if there had been I still would have been in the right, so don't even go there. It's just a good thing someone didn't decide at that moment to run me down as it's clear that this cop would have cited me and not the driver.