What. a. ride.

[Owlie]

In the space of 2.28 miles, I experienced a) an attempt to chat me up and b) a near miss.

I thought I'd go out for a short ride this morning before getting started on things for school. I got out, and the street I live on was crawling with cars--somewhat unusual for a Saturday. Turns out there was some kind of high school band event that was using our campus. I made it to the stop sign at the end of the street, and noticed that my computer wasn't working. Usually that just means the magnet's slipped--quick and easy fix, so I made my way to the first available driveway and then to the sidewalk next to it. This happened to be near the art school building. I was fiddling with the magnet when an art student (I'm pretty sure--none of the students from my uni are ever over there) came up to me and asked if I wanted some help. And he kept talking. I wasn't paying much attention to what he was saying, just that he was making me uncomfortable. I quickly thanked him for his offer to help and got the heck out of there.

My second loop around the area (creepy art student was gone), I was approaching the intersection next to the museum. It's Y-shaped, and the left "twig" of the Y has a stop sign, while the trunk and right "twig" are continuous and don't have a stop. There's also a pedestrian crosswalk across it. There are also a load of parked cars on the right side of the street. I was in the lane (no choice if you don't want to get doored) but most drivers are used to seeing cyclists in the area, so it's really not a big deal. I approached the intersection and slowed enough to check for pedestrians, checked the other "twig" and noticed a car stopped at the sign. "Okay," I think. "Since I'm traffic, I can quite happily continue and he can wait for a gap like a normal person." So I enter the intersection.
Apparently this guy was not a normal person. Either a) he was really impatient, b)he figured "Oh, it's a bike. It can't be going faster than 5 mph...I think I can beat it." or c)He interpreted my checking for pedestrians as letting him through. He turned left in front of me.
I don't know what it was, but something had told me he was going to try something like that. I braked, hard. He realized his mistake and stopped. I could have reached out and touched the rear passenger window. Luckily, the car behind me had seen what was going on and stopped. I let the first car go, not wanting to cause too much trouble, and the woman behind me was nice enough to let me ride off first.
I called it a day after that.

[Eden]

I'm happy you didn't get hit - one thing to remember is that many people when they encounter a stop sign, especially if the the roads appear to be "equal" - so they are not on a small street that intersects a much busier one- don't always remember that not all stop signs are 4 way (or all way)....

I go through an area like that on my way to work - its actually a parking lot with 2 through streets. The entering traffic does not stop (so that if it is busy cars coming in don't gummy up the actual street), but traffic on the second through street has a 2 way stop. Honestly, I'm waiting for the day I get cussed out for being one of those (&^$# cyclists who doesn't obey the laws.... (as I'm pretty sure the cross street signs don't have the little supplemental - incoming traffic does not stop reminder)

[tctrek]

Good for you for staying completely focused and aware of that whole scenario unfolding. It only takes a moment of inattention to result in tragedy.

[malkin]

Good idea to call it a day. Sometimes it's best just to hunker down.