I'd like to hear more about the altercation that lead to you being placed under arrest. How much time elapsed between him pulling over and you being arrested? What did you say to him? Were you found guilty?

I'm a cyclist. I have ridden 5 RAGBRAI's myself. I am familiar with cyclists and their habits. I'm sorry to say, but I am not sympathizing with you. Just like there are rude motorists who don't tolerate sharing the road with cyclists, there are also cyclists who give the rest a bad name. They seem to think that they are above traffic laws. If you share the road, then you need to obey the rules - including stop signs. Cathy Olson never should have left the scene when a police officer was clearly addressing them both. When a police officer addresses you with concerns about a violation - whether you are the party in question or not, you stop and speak to him until he says it's okay for you to go. It's not because HE says is law - it's because he is trying to enforce the law. As a 44 year old motorist I've dealt with my share of jerk cops when I have been speeding, and most recently - rolled thru a stop sign. I had to deal with a cocky, condescending, rude cop or 2. It's not just cyclists - it could be anyone who violates a traffic law. You may have been unfairly bullied, but I have a feeling there was more to your story than you are telling that got you arrested. As a cyclist I assume I am an inconvenience on roads. I limit my time on them and I make myself as less of a hassle for drivers as I can. I ride sidewalks and respect walking pedestrians. I don't act entitled. I obey traffic laws. Because if I don't...I'll be the one to lose and who ends up a grill ornament.

When I see comments like .... "As bicyclist Cathy Olson said after her confrontation with Deputy Barney Fife on the High Trestle Trail, "you can't make this stuff up." you lose respect and credibility. Bicycle safety isn't a tv sitcom. A confrontation with an officer is the least of a bicyclist worries. Get over yourself.

I'll bypass the topic of rude interactions with police officers to get to the heart of the problem. In the Cedar Valley more and more streets are being redesigned to allow for bike lanes. The problem? They're retrofitting already narrow roads that allow parking and all sorts of hazards for motorists/bicyclists to contend with. It's like watching a train wreck about to happen because municipalities are encouraging bike riding WITHOUT strongly encouraging folks to educate themselves on bike riding rules such as: use hand signals, stop at stop signs, don't wear headphones, stop texting and riding, don't ride two across in the middle of the street....the list goes on and on. I'm all for bikes but the bike riding community needs to step up and educate motorists/bicyclists if we have to share the road with one another. Personally I think they should allow bikes on the sidewalks (no potholes to deal with) because it's not hard to adjust your walking when a bicyclist needs to pass you.

I was in Waukee yesterday stopped at a red light. A person on a bicycle on the trail beside Hickman, rolled up to the red light, balanced while a car with the right of way went by, then proceeded to cross against the still red light. If I, in my vehicle, had done that, I would have been in violation of the traffic laws and would have been rightly ticketed. I have seen this happen a number of times this summer. Why do people on bicycles think the traffic laws are not for them???? I do sympathize with Cathy Olson and her friends, however, if indeed, as it appears, they had stopped and were not in violation of the traffic sign. I have been the victim of arrogant officers also and it is not a pleasant experience.

Yesterday when I was on my bicycle, I saw many cars blow through lights that had turned red, not signal their turns, make illegal u turns, text while driving, drive with no lights, and speed. All in one night! Why do these drivers think the law does not apply to them????

She forgot the part where she was flipping off the two 25 year olds in the Yukon with the 29 year old that was with them and as soon as the Yukon pulled into the ace hardware on Mall Dr it was approached my this disgruntled woman that was yelling and screaming. The same woman that was arrested for disorderly conduct and hired a bike annourney for her court date, even though she wasn't put in jail for riding her bike. This is the same woman that likes the abuse Neihborhood dogs

Billy, did you see my comment above? It doesn't appear sequentially. Haven't calculated my BMI lately, but I've lost 25 pounds, kept it off, and am trying to lose 20 more pounds to get to my college weight. I'm constantly working on improving my fitness, and I'm glad you walk every day. I drink too much coffee too, but coffee is loaded with anti-oxidants. Even the smell of freshly made coffee has anti-oxidants, and anyway, I get sick without it. The suicide rate for women who drink coffee is lower, so yes, there are probably some self-medicating reasons for drinking it. Coffee is not necessarily a bad thing, although some folks I know complain of having more panic attacks on coffee and don't sleep as well as they do without coffee. Each person is different.

I am truly sorry if I offended you.

Billy, what about people who have lost their licenses due to drunk driving or a disability of some kind? What about college students who can't afford cars? What about environmentalists who don't want to contribute to global warming? We're not driving Hummers. We don't want to drive Hummers. We're riding our bikes.

Bikes and cars are mixing on the roads. Share the road. As wealth inequity grows in America, as people like Mitt Romney get richer, the poor get poorer, and the middle class is squeezed into working class servitude, you will see more and more bicycles on the road. It's actually easier and quicker to bike downtown and park right in front of a business or the library than it is to drive downtown and find a parking place.

Come on, Billy. Some drunk drivers become avid bicyclists! I've seen it happen! There's nothing wrong with that.

+1, Matthew Georges!

Billy Zelsnack, please. Available transportation options in downtown Iowa City are, in order of options least likely to pollute the air and contribute to global warming:

1. Bicycling/walking/skateboarding.
2. Taking city buses fueled with biodiesel.
3. Driving a fuel-efficient car.
4. Driving an SUV/pick-up truck.
5. Driving a Hummer/semi.

Billy, give up. You've lost the argument.

I forgot to list motorcycles. I may have had a mental block on motorcycles because so many Iowa City cops and retired Iowa City cops ride around town on motorcycles without helmets, including Marty Leik and Troy Kelsay. They say if you live through your first six months on a motorcycle your chances of survival improve after that.

I'm against underpowered gas-fueled scooters. They're not fast enough to move when you need to move quickly and too many kids ride them without helmets.

Think about it, Billy, and the answer will come to you. Take as much time as you need.

Billy, I didn't call you a twit or fat. You know that, and frankly, you're starting to get annoying.

You figure out which argument you lost and get back to me. Take as much time as you need.

Maria, I agree with you to an extent, one can certainly take a city bus, assuming: 1) It isn't Sunday, 2) There is a route heading to where you need to go, and 3) Time is not an issue for you while traveling.

Billy, I understand your concern about bicycles not being able to travel at the same speed as automobiles, but I disagree that this fact makes them inappropriate for road traffic or that it is impossible for the two to travel safely on the same surface.

The fact is hundreds of Iowa City residents and hundreds of thousands across the nation choose cycling as their primary choice of transportation. Some times accidents occur, but for the most part, we cyclists get to our destinations safely, or we wouldn't do it.

I am sorry you feel "inconvenienced" when you have to turn your steering wheel, or press a pedal in your car to pass a cyclist, I really am. That must be tough. Also, it is OK with me that you choose to drive as your mode of transportation, just don't try to tell me how I should commute. I am glad you claim to be respectful and cautious around cyclists when you drive, and that is all I am asking for from the driving community as a whole.

+1, Matthew Georges! Thanks for intervening.

Billy, so in your perfect world, nobody would turn left out of parking lots, nobody would ride bicycles for transportation, and your wife would stay home and not have a job, got it!

Exactly my point, stop wasting my time and the time of others by arguing a losing position in this forum. Thanks.

"Some" people on bikes think they are above the law because they have never been ticketed for disobeying the laws. Those same folks give the rest of us cyclist a bad reputation. But, it is the same with "some" drivers". They speed, drive drunk, run red lights, drive too slowly etc. I would hardly say that "drivers are all disrespectful idiots", though. There are bad of each, but it doesn't change the rights of all. Bikes can go on roads if they choose...by law. If there is a path nearby (adjacent to the road), then I think it is "stupid" and inconsiderate to ride the roads unless you have to. But, riding on sidewalks is extremely dangerous to both the cyclist, other pedestrians and to motor vehicles that aren't used to looking for fast moving traffic on a sidewalk. And, yes, I said "fast moving". I ride anywhere from 15 mph (slowest flat terrain speed) up to 30 mph on a downhill. Sidewalks are made for walkers and joggers. Not bikers. Cars need to be aware of and be considerate of bikers...PERIOD. But bikers also need to obey the laws, be considerate of and watch out for cars just as much. At the end of the day, we bikers need to remember that if a car doesn't play by the rules or if we don't play by the rules it still has the same result...we lose!!

I agree 100% with you, Maria. I would love to see more paved shoulders (i.e. 27th street past the UNI Dome). I definitely would NOT condone riding on a sidewalk as I mentioned. And as I said, use paths whenever possible. Unfortunately it isn't' always possible and we have every right to be on the road. We also have every responsibility of riding on the road, though, too. Maybe even more responsibility, you could say, because others' carelessness could lead to our own deaths. Doesn't mean they are right, just that they drive a bigger vehicle. I use the same caution around semis on the interstate. They sometimes bully and act like they own the road, but at the end of the day they will win in a "confrontation".

+1, Proud UNI Grad! Yes, there is always someone bigger than us on the road. Even semis have to worry about hitting another semi or a train. I try to anticipate traffic ahead of time. My dad taught me to always give myself an out when I was learning to drive. Expect people to do something stupid and/or illegal, because sometimes they do.

Once on RAGBRAI there were four or five troopers directing bike traffic and car traffic onto the road at the same time, and I hung back, but my Dad didn't. He got hit by a car; I didn't. Of course the troopers wouldn't admit that they were working at cross purposes with each other.

I find that when I'm too craven and hug the right side of the road too tightly, motorists sometimes force me into a crack, a pothole, broken glass, sand, branches, or a storm sewer, which means I need to ride further to the left like my husband does. As scared as I am in traffic, that's difficult, but sometimes you just can't let a car bully you into a dangerous situation and I confront bad drivers whenever I can. Once I confronted a semi driver.

Billy, lots of things worth doing can be considered dangerous.
Speaking of unpopular arguments, what dies your wife think about you calling her and other cyclists, "children playing in the street?" You obviously cannot win this argument in your own home, and therefore have no chance of winning it here. That's what I mean by a losing argument, that you and your flimsy position, that basically might makes right, will never convince me nor other cyclists to abandon our primary modes of transportation. You can yell "physics!" until you are blue in the face and people will still continue to commute by bike. Cyclists aren't going anywhere Billy, more and more people are leaving their cars in the garage every day, and you need to get used to that perceived inconvenience of bikers sharing the road with cars.
In the same way, I don't think I will ever convince you that it is reasonable to bike on roadways, so I am done directly arguing with you, I have made my point. It is up to you to make that decision for yourself but whatever you decide, it is still your duty to act civilized and responsible on the roadways.

Brakes, Billy. Brakes are the reason bikes are different from skateboards and rollerblades.
I know you haven't won at home, because if your wife bought your argument, she wouldn't be riding her bike to work.
I know far more people who have gone to the hospital due to car accidents than in bike vs car collisions.
Again, you are entitled to your opinion, but mine is you are wrong.

Matthew Georges, good job.

"Law enforcement's relationship with bicyclists is often uneasy and hostile"
Well, pretty much law enforcement's relationship with everyone is often uneasy and hostile...

Julie, that's so true, but some groups activate the culture war response in law enforcement more than others. Most law enforcement officers, with notable exceptions like RAGBRAI Team Regulators (75% cops), like vehicles with keys, including motorcycles, and do not approve of using your muscles to move instead. This may be a hangover from America's agrarian era when back-breaking manual labor was replaced with motorized equipment and some folks started driving to their mailbox.

Watch Dave Chapelle's sketch on white justice administered to black pimps and gangbangers vs. black justice administered to an upper middle-class white family. It's hilarious. Maybe on YouTube?

Billy you cannot argue with biking zealots. On my way to work I watch a biker run a stopsign crossing a busy 55mph road. Then I stopped at a stop sign and the biker turning left with their own sign never stopped and put her feat down. They should be ticketed every time they break the law. They should get a ticket at every stop light camera but they don't because they refuse to liscense their Peddle Powered Vehicle like the rest of us and pay a plate fee to ride the roads.

The bicyclist crossing the 55-mph road should have stopped at the stop sign. However, sometimes it's just better to go at a four-way stop when no one is there so you don't get into an "argument" with a motorized vehicle over whose turn it is to go. It's an "argument" that the pedal-powered bicyclist will lose every time. It's not worth it. Better to just scoot out of the way instead of assuming that when it's your turn, the motorized vehicle driver will let you go. In some states, that's legal because a bicyclist has a better view without impediments than someone driving a vehicle.

Jack F., *Damn. Put double quotes around the first paragraph. I just copied it to make sure I could read it again while formulating my answer.

Jack F, as if! :-)