Why I might get a bit defensive on the whole "cyclists do blah" thing

Alex Zapeda, a.k.a. zippy_monster got into a tet-a-tet that was somewhat spurred on by the last post. He must see a lot of things I never see - I walk around Noe Valley quite a lot and rarely get buzzed by a cyclist. Yes, I've seen a couple coming down 23rd or 24th take some questionable passage through a stop sign, but never felt put at risk. Can't say the same for the skateboarders who come zooming down the same streets - those guys are nuts and I keep waiting for a catastrophe. Fortunately as a pedestrian I can usually hear *them* coming.

Alex apparently spends a lot of time at Dolores Park - I wish I could spend more time there myself - and that area certainly attracts a different breed than the Freds like me riding down 24th Street to the Whole Foods with our trailers and extracycles. He complained about riders buzzing him on the sidewalk and (I think) on the lawn itself. I can envision that and it's certainly untoward. But not nearly as untoward as what I saw this AM...

Today at the top of Old La Honda, we were waiting on the right side of the road for the last cyclist to arrive before heading to 84. A pickup truck came screaming down from the North, laid on his horn, and made a sliding left turn onto Old La Honda, almost taking out one of us and the mailboxes on the other side of the road. Clearly he saw us and was not going to be bothered to be taking the turn with care.

Now, it turns out there is an Oak tree that has fallen over on Old La Honda and the road was closed, near the top. So it was fairly safe to assume we'd see this guy again. And we did. He was driving back up twisty Old La Honda Road at high speed - in REVERSE and came screaming into the intersection again, knowing full well that there were a half dozen cyclists standing at the edge of the road.

I just don't see how a PBR toting hipster riding down the sidewalk of Dolores Park compares.