Originally Posted by OhLylo

This morning was...not great. 45F and a bit foggy:



Not terrible conditions on the face of it. I'm appropriately equipped with lights and gear and all that so I figured NBD. Wrong! As I made my way south, it got foggier. Then, the coup de grace: some dude flipped **** on me and pushed me off the road. So I was coming up a road to a roundabout, which has like 10 lights in the middle and is super well light. The bike lane ends and feeds into the roundabout, which is small and one lane. I enter and take the lane as there are concrete dividers everywhere and no car can pass safely, plus it's a roundabout so we're all slow anyways. As I'm hitting my exit, the concrete dividers extend about 100 yards out from the actual circle, so I stay in the lane until I clear this so nobody gets cute and tries to pass here because it's too tight.

Welp, a dude in a silver Accord decided he didn't like this. He laid on the horn, then he edged up on the left and pushed me (not physically, but in the "hit or be hit" sense) off the road. So I'm on the about 18 inches of shoulder thinking, what the hell? This guy then proceeds to pull alongside me, roll down his window, and start shouting expletives mixed with "get off the road" and "ride on the side" and etc. I just stayed on the brake until he was going so slow that he was blocking traffic, and he finally took off. Definitely feeling a bit rattled. I seem to have a powerful jerk magnet lately. I really do need to pick up a camera.

I'd like to take an honest accounting of the situation and evaluate what I could do better. As I mentioned, I have lights front and rear, as well as the standard reflectors and partially reflective clothing. I aim to ride 1m from the right line (if dedicated bike lane/path isn't present) except in situations like this roundabout where taking the lane is necessary. I know conditions weren't optimal today but this happened in probably the best lit area of the whole trip, so I'm dubious it was a visibility issue. Do I chalk it up to road rage and not being able to please some people and press on? Thoughts on what I could do better?

Originally Posted by mgw4jc

I'd say you did about everything right. Too many drivers are impatient with anything that slows them down, especially cyclists.

When I encounter any such tight squeezes that make it unsafe or impossible for a car to pass, I will try to get through as quickly as possible, or at least try to appear that I am. It is my hope that the driver sees me trying to get through quickly so that they can then pass safely.

As for riding position, I generally ride as far right as possible. This means that some cars will pass with barely crossing the center line and I'm mostly okay with it as long as they appear to be giving some space. Most cars do give more space though. With a road that has no shoulder, 1m would put me in the middle of the lane on a two lane road (1 lane each direction). In that position I would feel like I'm blocking the driver's view of the road ahead and not giving a good amount of space for him to pass.

There are many opinions on riding position in the road. You have to do what you're comfortable with given the road and conditions you have. But yes, no matter how you execute it, there will be someone to get upset and let you know about it by honking, yelling or whatever.

Originally Posted by HardyWeinberg

I think you did well.

Around here roundabouts are sized such that I can take them faster on my bicycle than just about any car/truck, I don't know if yours is large enough or the accord was sporty enough that cars can do it at a higher speed. That is unfortunate.

Originally Posted by RidingMatthew

i agree with @mgw4jc and @HardyWeinberg it sounds like you were doing the right thing and it just the right time for that guy to show himself an idiot. be careful out there.