Bicycle commuting, day 10

By all accounts, the weather was yucky today, but I didn't mind. It was hot and humid, but on my bike I felt a breeze, and at the end of each ride (yes, it was a round trip today) I had a cool shower and dry clothes waiting for me. The Camelbak was really handy too. I made one stop on the return trip for a breather. My heart rate was a little high, so I sat on a park bench sipping cool water from my Camelbak for a few minutes. I think it due to the heat. After that, the rest of the trip was very easy. You can't get this kind of sense of accomplishment from riding the Metro.

Minor mishap of the day: I had a too-close encounter with another cyclist. I was riding along the trail, and came to an intersection. I started to cross a street, with the light, at a very controlled speed. There was a car to my right stopped for the light, and an oncoming biker to my front and left who was travelling at high speed, and didn't bother slowing down for the intersection.

I panicked and wobbled a little when I realized that I had nowhere else to go except straight through the tight space between the car and the other bike. The other biker came close enough to knock my grip-mounted rear view mirror out of alignment while repeatedly SCREAMING at the top of his lungs "Jes.., what do you think you're doing?!?" as if it were all my fault.

It would have been tempting to say a few things myself, but I didn't. He could have approached the intersection more cautiously. He could also have maneuvered his bike to leave me a bit more room, seeing as he didn't have other cars or bikers to his right, but he didn't. I was shaking for some time after that. He could have avoided that situation altogether if he had been paying attention, but he didn't. It was a little scary. The trail isn't a race course. He was probably going 18-20 mph on a multi-use 15 mph trail. Yikes!