I got to ride with another commuter!!

[alpinerabbit]

If your post had been "I ran into another commuter" then that woulda been me. Actually the other way round.

Literally - there's a pretty big dangerous 3-lane roundabout that I have to round about, and some cars (most actually) leave it where I still go round (merrily, I say) I always signal my intent on holding my lane - and some girl was still asleep one morming, slammed on her brakes, I realized her in the corner of my eyes - slammed on mine and the other cyclist behind me ran into me.

Nothing happened to anyone.
Gave the asleep-in-her-can driver a good scare and a lesson I hope.

[Iris616]

If your post had been "I ran into another commuter" then that woulda been me. Actually the other way round.

Literally - there's a pretty big dangerous 3-lane roundabout that I have to round about, and some cars (most actually) leave it where I still go round (merrily, I say) I always signal my intent on holding my lane - and some girl was still asleep one morming, slammed on her brakes, I realized her in the corner of my eyes - slammed on mine and the other cyclist behind me ran into me.

Nothing happened to anyone.
Gave the asleep-in-her-can driver a good scare and a lesson I hope.

I'm glad no one was hurt.
Do you mean that you go round a few times before exiting the circle? I have a small round about on my commute. Early in the morning I do that sometimes, just because it makes me laugh

[GLC1968]

I constantly run into other commuters. I've been held up by 'bike traffic' before... There are TONS of people on bikes here and because of that, most don't bother talking to each other outside of the occasional "good morning". It would be too hard to talk to everyone - you'd never make it to work on time!

I do notice that people are more chatty/friendly when the weather is bad. I guess they figure if you are also out in it, you are 'hard core' and worth a few words!


When I lived in NC - I'd be lucking if I'd see another commuter to wave at, never mind talk to. It rarely happened.

[gnat23]

I commute south-to-north, sometimes with a group. Nearly every day, I see a group going north-to-south. We'd all smile, wave, say good morning as we crossed.

Then at a Velodrome race where I was spectating, some guy came up to me and said "Hey, you're the one leading on the Bay Trail every morning!" and we officially introduced ourselves.

He was pretty cute too! Pity he has to work the other direction from me.

-- gnat!

[Trek420]

I'm opposite most commuters. Seems my fellow cyclists live elsewhere, leave the station and are heading to work while I and some "invisible cyclists" arrive at the station.

Now I do see more weekend warriors popping up where before we were an oddity in the 'hood.

I helped a woman commuter this morning by showing how I manage BART with a bike.

Monday I had a very pleasant chat with an older gent on the train. I'm guessing 60's. He rescued a folder that a friend was throwing out and did a great job of painting and fixing it.

It's his first week of riding to work and his grin was ear to ear. He asked for some tips, info, I talked about the how and why of riding with traffic. He got off the train with "I'm going to go right downstairs and get a bright yellow vest!" Nice gent, hope I see him again.

[kfergos]

I almost always see just a few people going opposite of me in the summer, maybe four or five routinely. We all wave at each other, and one guy and I say "good morning." I think it's because so far out from the city, anybody else on a bike -- commuting or not -- is something of a rarity.

I've had once or twice when some guy an I ended up together going the same direction. It's nice to have company, but this one guy on a Cervelo (He told me faux-modestly: "I've been commuting a few months now, and the direct route is 10 miles each way, but on nice days I like to go longer," like he's super macho) made me ride faster than I intended to. I stayed ahead of him, though! But mostly no, I ride alone 99% of the time.

I never see anybody else in the winter. Not one, for five months or more of the year. If I saw somebody else on a bike in February, I'd probably just fall off my bike in shock. (On a side note, I was in the bike shop in the winter getting something done -- it seems like things always need fixing in the winter -- and I heard this guy talking about how he loved riding on ice. He was all talking about how great it was with his studded tires and all. I have studded tires for the winter, and I spent that whole time thinking "He likes riding on ice? I'd go a mile out of my way to avoid riding on it!" But even so I didn't see him out there in the "wintry mix" weather, either.)

[jsdilks]

I ride on the back of a tandem for our commute to work about 3 days/week. It's a short ride (about 4 miles each way) and on a path most of the time. We run into folks - a few of the same faces - and wave. We also generate a few comments "she's not pedaling" or surprised looks when we pass people. I've been off a bike for 25 years and the last time I rode was on the back of a tandem when we were undergrads and had a baby that we put in a bike seat. So this is all pretty new to me. The paths make a huge difference for me, because I'm very nervous on the streets - I don't trust drivers in general, and drivers in DC especially. But I chat up people when we're stopped and leave them smiling. And I always wave at the kids.
Shelly