I agree with you that there are a lot of mean people out there, but it's complicated.

I am a cyclist, a biker, and a driver, so I respect people on two wheels, and when on two wheels I behave.

The fault is substantially one of flawed civil organization. Motor vehicles don't mix well with cycles because of the speed differential. They are a danger to us and we are a annoyance to them. The system should not mix those two classes of vehicles, and bike lanes are not the answer. We don't mix kayaks and ocean-going liners. There is no good interim solution either. Motor vehicles have got to go from where people ride bikes.

At this point there is always the guy to butts in saying that he's been cycling in traffic for 50 years and never had a scratch. Other than "congratulations," there is not much else to say... Cars + bicycles = Bad marriage.

Most of the anti-bike stuff is just talk, but with that talk often comes bad actions. I truly believe that many people take on a persona based on the type of vehicle they drive and view others on the roads as lesser because they are not driving a comparable vehicle. It's as if they become the car, or as it turns out in many cases, an SUV or pickup truck. The actual amount of inconvenience we cyclists present is often far less than it's perceived and amounts to mere seconds.

Check out this thread from a forum I follow, this thread is just a couple days old and is only one of many that follow a similar pattern.

Cop shots cyclist in back - AnandTech Forums


Brian

About a year ago riding in to work at 2:40am I hit a sleeping homeless man who was laying across the bike path. He was in a dark section of the trail and I was going to fast and didn't see him. I went flying over my handle bars busted my head wide open got stitches and separated my right shoulder it still hurts when the weather changes. I had to drag my bike about a quarter mile
bleeding all the way. I called my wife she took me to the hospital. Nothing happened to the homeless man he just shook it off. The bike had a bent fork bent handle bars and some spokes in the rear tire broke.
http://i1167.photobucket.com/albums/...124550_756.jpg

Not included in my list in the OP but when in High School I was riding my bike to school but went over the bars when I hit a Wood Chuck that ran in front of me. I got a little bruised but nothing broken and no muscle/tendon/ligament damage of any significance. I did not continue to school, however, and for that I was accused of skipping school.

A buddy of mine hit a homeless man on his motorcycle and the homeless man died. Of course the mass and velocity difference was much higher than your case. Sometimes being really loose as in drunk or asleep can prevent the kinds of soft tissue damage you get when the body tenses before impact...


Brian

Wow. That really sucks. "Cyclists are evil." "Cyclist hunting season" ...

I pack a gun on very long rides. Not that will do me any good if I am run over, but with all that hostility it's easy to expect the worse.

Been riding about a year. However, I've wrecked twice after ditching the mountain bike...good God I don't what I was thinking when I got into that.

Anyway, first one about a month in. Caught in the rain, took a corner too fast and woosh away goes the front end. Second, going way too fast on a sidewalk to stay out of the street. Hit a rut between the sidewalk and the grass. Sent me flying into the woods. Came out of both with just some road rash and some serious scratches to the bike. Both were good learning lessons though.

I I only ride on paved bike trails, fortunate to have several at my disposal. No street riding especially since my upgrade to a Trek Emonda SL5 that I'm pretty sure I love more than my wife.

1. As a kid, I had someone open their left door right in front of me as I was passing their car, flew off the bike onto the pavement. Amazingly, no cars hit me as I fell onto the pavement in the traffic area of the road. Lots of bruises, no broken bones no concussion.

2. More recently as I returned to cycling, I was riding a slow single ride, ran too close to the edge of the road, where the black-top meets the cement apron and falls off about 1 inch. My wheel got caught in that 1 inch edge and there was no getting control back. Went down very hard in front of two other cyclists. Blood, flesh on the road, a real mess. Some stitches to close the hole in my forearm, but the helmet prevented any serious damage.

3. Riding while on vacation at the Outer Banks, hit a hole in the road camouflaged by a shadow. Went down very hard. Lots of pain, lots of black & blue and another helmet with scrape marks.

As others have said, I won't list all the mountain bike incidents, their like reading a petri dish full of spore growth, TNTC (too numerous to count)

Today I clipped a post going through an intersection on a trail I only get to ride a few times a year. Caught it with my right leg and pretty sure I went airborne and flipped. Post was about three feet tops and all the marks and large knot on my shin could vouch for that. One really small mark on frame but my right Di2 lever died at the scene. The lbs wrench said it was in 8 peices and this does not include what I left on the ground.
I must say I am quite impressed with the strength of Felts frames and forks. This only cost me the one lever $205 and a bit of pain. I also had quite an audience so all was good there and people have chit chat material for the water cooler on Monday.

Yea, I think a lot of it is just talk and no ones going to accuse you of bigotry for hating cyclists. But the fact that so many can so easily justify aggressive behaviors towards cyclists is not a good sign.

Over the years the vehicle that gets my attention whenever I see one are beater pickups driven by young redneck types -- probably half or more of the 'encounters" I've had on the road has been young males in beater pickups. Next up is a toss up between large SUV's and large pickups. I don't know that I've ever had an encounter with someone in a sports car.


Brian

I don't want to forget to mention the many courteous drivers who stop and let me pass when they don't have to, and often shame other drivers in other lanes by doing it loud and obvious, like stopping well before the bike crossing.

This thread=bad mojo.



S