Last weekend I rode with a large group on the east side of greater Seattle; Bellevue, Renton, Issaquah, and neighboring areas. Washington is often considered the friendliest state for cyclists to ride in. I generally agree. The city of Seattle is a city of passive and inattentive drivers, so while it is not a bad city to bike in, I don’t think it’s the best. Outside of Seattle, the roads and the behaviors immediately improve. I am impressed by how I can visibly see the friendliness increasing the farther I get out of town. You can imagine my surprise when a line of vehicles honked, yelled, and flipped off the string of us riders last weekend. We were riding on a wide, newer road with a wide shoulder and no bike lane. The weather was clear and dry. The cyclist in front of me switched gears as the incline switched grade, and his chain fell off. He recovered pretty quickly, and was able to get it back on track with his foot. I didn’t sway, but I did brake suddenly when he lost momentum. I couldn’t see the riders behind me, but they were all aware as they hollered, “Are you OK? Can you get your chain back on?” I have to wonder if the vehicles all honked at us because we were an unorganized mess at that moment (they drove past me less than a minute after the guy’s chain was back on). His whole ordeal lasted seconds, but it caused 10 people to brake and swerve and we all probably looked erratic from the viewpoint of a driver. Some of the riders behind me may have even swerved on to the road, I am not sure. This is the sort of incident that, had any of us been any less attentive or riding any more quickly or closely, could have been a disaster. Just one tire touching another could have meant the whole lot of us crashing. It’s probably more likely that the drivers just had some hate they had to get out of their system, and cyclists made a good outlet. But I wonder if that erratic ripple is what made them honk. I hope not. Often cars assume cyclists need to ride perfectly on the shoulder of a road, without ever changing their course. The shoulder of a road poses several hazards for cyclists that drivers probably never think of. Potholes, wet leaves, broken glass, roadkill, drainage grates, and parked cars are all roadside dangers to a cyclist. In this case, a mechanical issue is another invisible danger that could put a cyclist’s head under a car tire in seconds. We were all riding the safest we possibly could, but some hazards are out of our control. This is my reminder for all travelers to stay ever vigilant on the road, as something might happen to the person next to you that is undetectable yet completely uncontrollable.