I don't write about ignorant drivers all the time, although I see a fair share of them in this fair city, but never as many as five/six in one day. Today, was one of those days.
I counted five/six weird behaviors:
- Honked at twice, once in the AM and once in the PM, while lawfully operating my bicycle
- Yelled at, at Royal & MacArthur: something akin to "get off the road, you moron"
- Passed on the left, by a large SUV. A close call!
- Passed on the right within the lane and cutoff
- Almost got ran over in a 3 lane road, while riding lawfully in the right lane
I just don't get it :(
Hope all is swell in your neck of the woods!
Paz :)
Oddly, your post is a morale boost. I do pray, however, that the rest of your riding week is sweet and pleasant. That would be even more of a morale boost.
ReplyDeleteWow, that's discouraging. I hope you have many days with zero harsh encounters. Be safe out there!
ReplyDeleteMy observation and I see do reason it would not apply there is that about 10 percent of the drivers are psychopaths, another 10 percent is courteous and the rest are clueless. There is no defense against the psychotic except constant awareness because they are so sure that your murder is justifiable and would believe it while standing at the gallows. The courteous are dangerous because they tend to give you the warm fuzzy feeling and cause you to let your guard down. The clueless are worse as they can and will run over you and not even know it. Many of them will try to get as close as possible hoping(secretively)to have an accident so they don't have to go on with their boring mundane lives by adding a little excitement. I'm sure they believe that they are the victim and will be seen as such by their peers. They will be bathed in sympathy over the unfortunate event when that thing on the bicycle attacked them. These or the people that believe that evil will be dispelled by giving it a dirty look.
ReplyDeleteFor my age I have become a stronger rider but I don't ride much anymore because of this perception and a strong aversion to pain. I still use my bike just not so much and never for pleasure.
I have witnessed all of these.
I do hope we'll hear soon that sweetness has come back into your commute life?
ReplyDeleteThanks all for your kind sentiments!
ReplyDeletePaz :)
Hi Chandra,
ReplyDeletesometimes it is not easy to stay cool. It´s as a challenge not ot say what you think.
Unfortunately I cant´t listen to this original version of Blowing in the wind. No license.
Liebe Grüße,
Pia