I live in the foothills of Colorado, west of Denver. It’s a beautiful area, and we have many recreational bike trails both paved and otherwise, including the 40+ mile paved cherry creek bike path. I’d say this area is more accepting of road cyclists than other US cities where I’ve lived, but there is still quite a bit of animosity towards them, particularly from the folks who live out in the foothills and mountains. I see two primary reasons for this; the first is that the presence of cyclists on certain roads brings out the worst in some drivers, and indirectly makes everyone less safe. I’m not talking about urban streets during rush hour with grid locked traffic, I’m talking about the rural, two lane, twisty, hilly, no-shoulder roads that many cyclists inexplicably seem to flock to. In the 5 years I’ve lived up here, I’ve not just once but twice come around a blind curve to find another car more than halfway in my lane trying to pass a cyclist. The first time I almost went in the ditch avoiding the guy, but the second time I had nothing but guard rail and nowhere to go. How that guy managed to miss me without killing the cyclist, I’ll never know. Now obviously, if someone had gotten hurt in one of those situations, the other driver would have been at fault. There is no excuse for driving recklessly, and a reckless driver is ultimately responsible for the carnage they cause. I think everyone can agree that this is an indisputable fact. But equally indisputable, is the fact that the cyclist was a catalyst for the situation. Without the cyclist, the situation doesn’t occur, or at least occurs with much less frequency. The cyclist has chosen to exercise their right to engage in a very dangerous hobby, but by simply being present on certain roads the cyclist creates situations that make everyone less safe. I don’t appreciate my safety being compromised on account of someone else’s hobby, regardless of who is ultimately at fault. That brings me to my second point. To me, one of the worst thing about cyclists on the road is the anxiety it causes me because I’m afraid I might accidentaly kill one of them. I’ve seen this sentiment brought up quite a bit, and the response from cyclists is usually something to the effect of “That’s just because you’re an unsafe driver and/or you don’t want to pay proper attention”. I think this is a ludicrous mindset to have, because it implicitly shifts the responsibility for the personal safety of the cyclist away from the cyclist and onto the driver. Road cycling is an undeniably dangerous activity (I think the many roadside memorials for cyclists who paid the ultimate price is a testament to that danger), and every cyclist on the road has accepted the risks by default. Cyclists are small, harder to see than cars, and on lightly trafficked rural roads are generally unable to match the pace of the cars that also use the road. Even the safest drivers have occasional lapses of attention or judgement. This doesn’t make them an unsafe driver, it just makes them human. In a car vs. bicycle scenario, such a lapse can have catastrophic consequences for all involved, much more so than in a similar car vs. car scenario. I don’t appreciate being forced to assume primary responsibility for the safety of people who choose to put themselves in unsafe situations. All that said, the law of the land says that cyclists have every right to the road that motorists do, and I think it is our duty as citizens to respect that right. To all you urban cyclists out there who use their bikes for commuting or beating gridlock traffic, more power to you! I think that’s great. To those of you that prefer to drive up to the mountains and ride the roads I’ve described, I will truly do my best to respect you and keep you safe. But I implore you: don’t trust your personal safety to random strangers. Have you met random strangers out in the world? They can barely be trusted to pick their nose properly, let alone pilot their two ton death machines in a responsible manner. Please stay safe, stay on bike paths, urban roads with bike lanes, and other more appropriate and less dangerous venues where you can enjoy your hobby.