I was a cycle commuter for a long time. I never seemed to have all the issues other cyclists have with auto traffic, and my area was pretty "middle of the road"

I was a cycle commuter for a long time. I never seemed to have all the issues other cyclists have with auto traffic, and my area was pretty "middle of the road" for car-centrism (ie not suburban america, but not amsterdam either). The reason i would sometimes ride at the outer edge of the bike line was because the middle of the bike lane was right in 'car door' range. Assuming that people are not only going to look before they open the door, but that they are going to look for a narrow, quiet vehicle, that requires them to look in the very corner of their mirror is naive. So if I couldn't see through the back windshield and confirm a parked car was empty, I just wouldn't ride there. Saved me a couple of times. In another post below you mention "the road was free of debris". It's very unlikely you can tell, from a fast moving car, through a windshield, that the road is clear of debris that would effect the narrower, thinner tires of a bicycle. What might not even register for an automobile might be a repair job for a cyclist. All the above having been said - I absolutely saw some very stupid behaviour from cyclists. But also realise people usually aren't doing things just to annoy you personally. And I'm a larger than average man, nothing remarkable, but I could bowl over old ladies walking slowly in-front of me at the supermarket if I wanted to. After all they are smaller, slower and in my way. Yet I never seem to fantasise about it like many automobile drivers do. Worth thinking about.