And a few crazy cyclists ...

[kfergos]

Grog, I really can't beat yours. But here's my recent ARRRGGGHHH biking story:

One afternoon I'm riding home from work and see another cyclist in the distance. All I can make out at first is that the bike is painted that same neon yellow-green as my Whisper vest. Then as I come closer, I see he's wearing a backpack. I think Cool, another commuter!. Then I get close enough to see he's not wearing a helmet...or a shirt. And he's not one of those guys who can get away with not wearing a shirt. He also has just regular, if remarkably dirty, jeans on, and is riding his bike extremely laboriously considering the terrain. He doesn't look like he's showered recently. At least he's not riding the wrong way.

I call "On your left," pass him, and move on. Then I come to a stop sign, where I stop behind and to the right of the car there. So it's a car ahead and to my left, then me, then a small gap to the sidewalk. I decide to turn right here, so as the car ahead of me goes, I start rolling forward, keeping the gap between me and the curb. All of a sudden, Mr. No Shirt comes (slowly) riding between me and this gap, just as I start to turn right. We nearly had a classic right hook, only with me playing the part of the car! (This just reinforced the fact that cyclists shouldn't creep up along the right of any vehicle.)

I slam on my brakes and shout "Hey!" in surprise. He mumbles something extremely slowly and incomprehensibly -- it sounded like "Ummmufmhmf, fuummll muffhl" -- as if he's got marshmallows in his mouth. I make my escape. Should I be irritated by this apparent drunk's terrifying cycling behavior? Or should I just be grateful he's not behind the wheel of a car?