Recommended Daily Allowance of Iron(y)

Something I didn't mention in yesterday's post (it was already getting long as it was) is something that happened during the ride between Fountain City Peddler and River Sports.  We were still on Broadway, which is a four lane road with a turn lane down the middle of quite a lot of it.  I was in front of Joshua, Alex, and a couple of other guys who had caught us briefly and riding on the right side of the right lane, right where I was supposed to be.  We were approaching the intersection with Woodland, which has a dedicated right turn lane, so I moved over in order to allow traffic behind us to use that turn lane while we waited for the light to turn green.  One lady in particular did use the turn lane (which as I believe I said we had moved over so as not to block her), and also took the opportunity to yell at us out of her window something that sounded as she passed by like "muffle muffle muffle get on the sidewalks if muffle muffle muffle..."  (I guess people don't always realize that it's hard to hear something shouted from a moving car when you aren't moving next to it at the same speed).

OK, first, I was well within the law by using the road and not the sidewalk.  In fact, even the Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization recommends that bicycles not use sidewalks (top of page 8) except for the very young due to safety concerns.  Second, I would have needed to cross over the right turn lane anyway in order to cross the intersection (since I wasn't turning).  But the third thing I have to mention was the ironic part.  The lady in question had a bumper sticker on her car that said "Coexist."  

Hmm.  I somehow think she wasn't really all that sincere about that, was she?

I want to take some space for a call-out or two.  First is for Steve, who runs my local bike shop.  He was involved in a crash yesterday morning during a group training ride (apparently a chain came off of a bike in front of him and got into his front wheel).  I saw him briefly after he got back from getting checked out at the hospital, so at least I know he's going to be OK.  Second is for Ben, the boyfriend of one of my sisters-in-law in Charleston, SC.  He was hit by a car while riding.  He was roughed up pretty badly, with facial lacerations, broken facial bones and clavicle, and I don't know what else, but he was at least able to get mostly clear after the impact.  The car that hit him kept going, dragging his bike for 4 blocks.  They pulled into a grocery store parking lot, disengaged the bike, and drove off leaving the bike there.  I haven't heard enough about the event yet to know if the witness(es) were able to give a clear description to the police, but I sure hope so.  The worst thing is that Ben doesn't have health insurance right now.  I'm just glad it wasn't any worse than that.