In the world there are places where cars and bikes live together, watching out for one another day by day. In places such as Berlin, where less than half of residents own a car, it has become downright common to ride a bike every day. Or Amsterdam, aka bike capital of the world, with 40 percent of its traffic being cyclists.

Even Oregon's own Portland is among the world's most bike friendly cities. But miles away from Amsterdam and Berlin, even Portland, lies the small town of McMinnville; where driving is the norm and biking is well...tolerated, at best.

Biking in a world of cars and trucks can prove to be frustrating, and not only for bikers, for drivers as well. On the road, drivers have many things to concentrate on. Watch other cars, look out for pedestrians, make the kids in the backseat behave, so where do cyclists fit in?

Drivers are aware that they have to share the road with cyclists, but why is there so much frustration and confusion as to where cyclists can ride?

I myself ride a bike for transportation around McMinnville, and I am careful to watch the road and stay in the designated bike lanes.

Many times, however, drivers will shout at me to get out of the bike lane. Some go as far as to pull up alongside and insist that I ride on the sidewalk.

Now I am quite sure I am in the right place, for it is named the "bike" lane. Oregon law requires bike lanes for all Oregon cities, including our town.

Motorists by law have to share the road, even if they think it a nuisance. And the sidewalks many motorists wish cyclists would use are for pedestrian use only; it's actually illegal for bikes to ride on them.

McMinnville is a small but growing city and its residents need to be more understanding and patient with cyclists.

Environmental science teacher Laura Syring rides her bike everywhere, rain or shine. She recently moved here and has found biking in Mac to be a bit difficult at times.

"Sometimes cars will slow down wanting you to pass, but the rest of the intersection hasn't stopped yet," said Syring, "and when [you] ride up to a light, the light won't register that you are there, so you either have to wait for a car to pull up, or you have to get over to the button [pedestrians] have to push. It can be annoying."

Sophomore Matt Kneeland has had his fair share of angry drivers, when biking in the early morning with traffic at its peak; drivers are not always courteous to bikers.

"Drivers can be really grouchy, they don't really care for bikers, and they don't give [bikers] the right of way."

Not all drivers in Mac are rude to bikers; they are just a small percentage of people. The majority of motorists are overly cautious, which can be dangerous for everyone.

These people, in my opinion, are simply frightened of hitting cyclists, so they slow down too much and go way too far around a biker just to pass them.

I have been in situations when a car won't pass me at all, even though I am to the side of the road in the bike lane.

Though I'm clearly not in any danger of being run over, the driver will stay a "safe" distance behind, until I have gone on the sidewalk.

This is not only extremely aggravating for drivers stuck behind this slow moving car, but exasperating for the biker.

In McMinnville, more people are getting into the habit of biking instead of driving due to the outrageous gas prices. With the increase of bikers, drivers need to not only have patience, but also learn how to adapt on the road.

With more knowledge of how to share the road, bikers and drivers will be safer and have peace of mind.