new bike lanes don't mean we're bike-friendly

Riding bikes in NYC can be treacherous even if you're riding in designated bike lanes. It seems that many NYC drivers would rather not share the road with bicycles. I've always wondered why this is so?

I'm of the mind that it has something to do with our culture where cars reign supreme and many people don't or won't get enough exercise? But sometimes I've felt like I was a threat. Let me explain.

If you're fit, wearing those colorful skintight lycra bike outfits, you are vicariously getting into the heads of drivers who might wish they could be as fit as you are and have your body. Just a theory of mine, mind you. But there might also be a selfish motive also.

Why should I share the road with slower bicycles when they don't even pay taxes that are used to maintain our roads? The problem with this thinking is that, guess what? - we also pay taxes. When I said this to a female driver once who honked and yelled at me to get off the road, she became livid. In that moment I felt like she could've killed me simply based on how angry she was.

Okay. Now we have more bike lanes and CitiBikes (with bikes to rent by time with multiple docking stations throughout Manhattan) which are being used at a more frequent rate than people thought they would.

But I still feel uncomfortable riding in the street so I take out my mountain bike and hit the trails.

Ever see an angry, livid squirrel? No, I didn't think so.