So there are certain things that I expect when I am out riding my road bike. At some point during my ride my body will rebel against me; every fiber of my being crying out to stop the insanity. This type of reaction is normal, as it has happens every time I exercise. Also, if I'm riding with Heather, at least one dog will chase me. My knee-jerk reaction when this happens is to kick it into high gear and outrun the dog. The unfortunate consequence of this is that Heather is usually left to fend for herself. Coincidentally, it is usually at this point that Heather realizes that she didn't fill her water bottles up for the ride. The one thing that any cyclist that has ever ridden on a road has had to contend with, however, is traffic. Most of the roads that I usually ride are fairly lightly traveled, but I still encounter the occasional idiot that thinks it's fun to buzz the cyclist. This idiot is usually overweight, sometimes smoking, normally yells something at me, and is almost always driving something that gets about 2 miles to the gallon. This past weekend I came to a realization, it seems that the majority of the rude and inconsiderate drivers that I encounter have "W" stickers on their back windows. This came as a startling realization to me, as my political leanings almost always fall to the right of some people that I know. Of course the thought did occur to me that being in a conservative state, there are bound to be more Republicans, and therefore the likelihood of encountering a rude one is higher. What disturbed me however, was the thought that maybe there is a sense of entitlement among conservatives. A sense that since those of us on the right side of the aisle tend to be considered the "religious right, " we shouldn't have to be considerate of anyone or anything. Perhaps it's a "if I want to my gas guzzling monster suv while smoking my cigarettes, then some silly guy in spandex should get out of my way" mentality. Maybe I'm not making much sense, and maybe I'm being paranoid, but I know I don't want anyone to describe me that way.