Last month, a Kamas, UT man tried to run down a group of cyclists riding along Mirror Lake Highway. Normally I'd be all, "Stupid redneck!" and spewing some other anti-Utah insults at the driver on here. However, if you read the article closely, you'll see one of the riders who was nearly run over was riding side-by-side with another.

Now, I'm not going to side with the redneck driver — what he did was pretty rash and dangerous — but at the same time, I'm not going to feel too much sympathy for the guy who was hit because he was NOT riding smart. You don't ride double on a busy road. EVER. I've ranted over this topic many times, because it seems to be an epidemic during group rides. There are two sides of the "Share the Road" equation when it comes to bikes and cars. Both must show courtesy towards one another for it to work.

Bill Dark, a Park City resident, responded in an editorial:

"I have to admit that we road cyclists have brought this problem on ourselves. We expect to have the same rights as cars on the highway, but we blatantly disregard the laws that we should abide by… If we were in a car we would never do this, but we feel somehow entitled to on a bike. This is wrong. How can we expect respect from drivers when we show them that we believe we are somehow above the law[?]"

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Bill says the road had too much traffic for two riders abreast. Apparently it's legal to ride this way (which is beyond me, because I'm relatively sure there's something written down saying bikers should probably stick to the right of the white line), but it's just downright rude to do so. Motorists get pissed at bikers for taking up too much space, and to be honest, I don't blame them. Again, not saying it's okay to run over people, but I do see where they're coming from.

"We will not change the attitudes of people like Barto and Delray Hatch, an Oakley city councilman who advocated in a public meeting that bicyclists should be run over. But we can change the opinions of many others. It starts with us."

AMEN!