Originally Posted by
hoosae
No matter what road we were on, whether busy or almost deserted, whenever a car passed it would come within inches of clipping the bikes. On one occasion we were travelling along a quiet road with four lanes (two in each direction) and a car insisted on passing in the same lane as us even though there were three other empty lanes outside us. Collisions were a real worry for us and we would have at least one near-accident a day. I lost count of the number of times we were forced off the road by careless drivers who simply did not seem to see us there.
i found italian drivers give a wide berth on country roads. many would tap their horns and cheer us on in a celebratory manner, as if we were accomplishing something great, like working toward winning a stage of the giro. there is a
passion for cycling there that is like no other!