7:15 AM on March 11, 2009.
Thanks to the time change I am now riding to work in the dark again.
Oh well. I am not worried. I have not one, but two headlights and know that everyone can see me very well.
I cross Florida heading west on Dodge.
A white four door chevy blazer turns onto Dodge from Crescent and is heading toward me.
I am on the right side of the road. Cars park on both sides of Dodge and there is about 14 feet in between them. I am taking up 4 feet of the road leaving 10 feet for the car to use.
I hear his engine rev as he/she gets on the gas. They are probably cutting through to Anthony I think to myself. Obviously not a person who lives in the neighborhood.
She/he stays right in the middle of the road as they get on the gas. I inch a little closer to the parked cars while saying to myself, "you need to get over and give me some room."
It doesn't happen until he/she is about 10 feet from me, at the very last second they dive to the right and lay on the horn.
"%&*# You!!!" I yell at the top of my lungs hoping that the will stop.
They don't and I am worked up for like the next two hours.
Who was wrong here?
I was.
There is no excuse for getting so emotional about the situation. I just gave that driver more ammunition to hate those of us on bikes.
And for that, all of you bikers out there, I apologize.
I feel like an idiot.
We who ride bikes cannot take back the roadways by being jerks.
As my late grandmother used to tell my Mother and me, "Kill em' with kindness."
From now on I will be saying that to myself everytime another person in a car wishes to play chicken with me on a residential street. Where there is plenty of room for both of us. And I am highly visible. And I have the right to be there and they blow the horn at me at the last second before they dodge me.....hopefully.
Thanks to the time change I am now riding to work in the dark again.
Oh well. I am not worried. I have not one, but two headlights and know that everyone can see me very well.
I cross Florida heading west on Dodge.
A white four door chevy blazer turns onto Dodge from Crescent and is heading toward me.
I am on the right side of the road. Cars park on both sides of Dodge and there is about 14 feet in between them. I am taking up 4 feet of the road leaving 10 feet for the car to use.
I hear his engine rev as he/she gets on the gas. They are probably cutting through to Anthony I think to myself. Obviously not a person who lives in the neighborhood.
She/he stays right in the middle of the road as they get on the gas. I inch a little closer to the parked cars while saying to myself, "you need to get over and give me some room."
It doesn't happen until he/she is about 10 feet from me, at the very last second they dive to the right and lay on the horn.
"%&*# You!!!" I yell at the top of my lungs hoping that the will stop.
They don't and I am worked up for like the next two hours.
Who was wrong here?
I was.
There is no excuse for getting so emotional about the situation. I just gave that driver more ammunition to hate those of us on bikes.
And for that, all of you bikers out there, I apologize.
I feel like an idiot.
We who ride bikes cannot take back the roadways by being jerks.
As my late grandmother used to tell my Mother and me, "Kill em' with kindness."
From now on I will be saying that to myself everytime another person in a car wishes to play chicken with me on a residential street. Where there is plenty of room for both of us. And I am highly visible. And I have the right to be there and they blow the horn at me at the last second before they dodge me.....hopefully.
3 comments:
Much as I would love to dispense U-Lock Justice when the opportunity presents itself...
I just can't afford that many U-locks.
Oh, I suppose it's wrong, too, but really, they're not cheap.
Smile and wave, smile and wave. And don't feel that bad.
Did you go to the Bike Summit at the downtown library today? If so will you blog about it. I had to work until 2:00 so I wasn't able to attend. Would be curious about the happenings.
Eric,
I would be happy to.
Thanks for reading.
FWBC
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