Hi Everyone,
I'm new here and have been having much success adopting many new mustachian ways into my lifestyle. I started carpooling/biking/busing about 4 weeks ago without incident-- until today. I haven't seriously ridden my bike in traffic in the past, so I have been doing a lot of reading on this site and on the biking links many of you have provided to gain confidence, ride safely and correctly.
I have been encouraging my husband to ride more as well, so today we went for a pleasure ride. I took the opportunity to practice some of the biking techniques I have been learning while he was riding with me for added confidence. Everything went fine...until we came to a short, narrow bridge with one lane going in each direction (double yellow line). There were many cars driving at slow speeds in both directions as it is a busy summer weekend day at the beach. In the past I would have hugged the shoulder or popped up onto the sidewalk and perhaps walked my bike across the bridge. Today I thought I would be brave and follow the advice I have been reading and pulled my bike out into the center of the lane to safely cross the bridge. The Land Rover behind me started honking his horn at me. I watched a video dealing with this situation and the biker stayed in the center of the lane until it was safe to let the car pass, so that is what I did. The driver continued to honk, even more aggressively. My husband pulled to the curb and yelled at me to do the same, but I resisted. I remained in the lane until the end of the bridge, where I stopped and signaled a left turn. The Land Rover pulled up next to me and the driver started yelling obscenities at me. I tried to emulate the friendly wave I saw in the example video. (This probably came across as an insincere "FU" sort of wave, but that was not my intention.)
I was a bit shaken after this so we rode to the nearest picnic table to take a break. A few minutes later the Land Rover pulls up, and the two men in the car start screaming at me, telling me I am a "law-breaking bitch" who is going to "get yourself killed". I futilely tried to explain my reason for riding in the center lane, but they continued to yell at me and berate me. We were in a very populated park area and everyone was staring at me. Eventually the Land Rover drove away. It was humiliating.
I have never experienced this degree of hate and anger directed toward me before. It took a good 30 minutes to regain my composure before I was forced to ride back across the bridge. I was really terrified at this point so my husband took the lead, and we hugged the curb. Many cars passed us, some at a safe distance and others very close. Traffic piled up at the end of the bridge and we were left without adequate space to ride on the shoulder or to move into the traffic lane. I got off my bike and walked on the sidewalk until the end of the bridge. Thankfully we did not encounter the Land Rover again.
Can any experienced bikers please explain to me if I did anything wrong in this situation? I want to ride my bike correctly but I also want to avoid any conflicts like this in the future. Is this type of reaction normal from drivers? I only slowed him down a minute or two-- if this is how people treat cyclists that ride correctly, then I will either continue to be a "sidewalk biker" (gasp) or will not bike at all. Maybe I'm just not cut out for this!