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Look, we can trade anectodal evidence all day. My primary beef is with folks who disregard the safety of others for their own selfish ends. I have bitched out just as many people who are stopped and chatting in the middle of our trail as I have people who are traveling at a high rate of speed with disregard for others.

Typically, the cyclists that don't respect the rules of safe travel present the most danger because the potential for injury from their misdeeds is greater than from some tub out for a cruise on his christmas inlines. Tubby ain't moving fast enough to hurt anyone, the Miguel Indurain wannabees are. If I see a knot of these cluelss goofs that like to weave all over (they're easy to spot) I slow down quickly until I can get a read on what they're goin to do next. It also helps to know when you're likely to encounter them. Sunday afternoons and nice evenings after the dinner hour are down time for me. If I can't hit it right at 5-5:30, I wait until it gets closer to must see TV time..

If I can't hit it right at 5-5:30

Ain't that the truth! My personal favorite time is Saturday mid-morning. It's always fun to spot the folks who have just started cycling; you know, $4,000 bike with $1,000 of accessories. And, of course, a yellow US Postal Team jersey. Still, at least they're out there trying to get fit...

Skip,

Actually, in both collisions I saw, the cyclist went down and was injured. Also was bigger than the blader. One case was an accident. The other may have been a purposeful hit by the biker. He tried to sue the girl on blades. However, he still got injured pretty badly.

I agree and rag on poor bikers who do not respect the rules of the road. However, let's differentiate between a bike rider and a cyclist. Bike riders generally are riding a trashy bike, wearing jeans or cut offs, no helmet, lights or other safety equipment and often ride late at night and on the wrong side of the road.

A true cyclist wears safety gear. Spandex, (yea, you look like a dork, but the benefits of performance clothing after 50-100 miles of riding far outweigh the appearance)helmet. A cyclist will ride the road, but generaly as near the edge as is safe.

I occasionally will jump a red light. However, my justification is that I can get far enough ahead of traffic so as to allow the cars to spread out a little and cause little or no interference to traffic. If I see that I'm backing up traffic, I'll try to pull over, speed up, slow down or whatever else I can do to not be an impediment.

Another analogy. My drive to work is about 15 miles. Using the same route, it takes me 54 minutes to ride my bike. 53 minutes by car.