How Was Your Commute Today?

[redrhodie]

I read that it had drifted to New England, possibly as far as Washington.

I had to close my windows on Monday because of the smoke from those fires!

Today's commute was just okay. I had a weird incident where a jogger tried to push me into the road to give her more room. I wasn't close enough for her to reach me but I assume I was "in her space" . As I was about to pass her, I looked behind me and saw cars coming in the traffic lane, so I stayed just to the inside edge of the white line (we were both in a bike lane/shoulder, and she was running toward me, so she saw me coming for a while). Until she tried to touch me, I had no idea she had an issue. She also told me to "move over". I thought she was really rude. Really, the safe thing for her to do, if she was uncomfortable with my passing distance (which seemed perfectly safe and reasonable to me) would have been to move further away from traffic, not try to push me into the road! Good grief.

When pfunk was pushed by a pedestrian a while back, and I remember thinking that people can be jerks. I'm still thinking that. At least my jerk missed me .

[lph]

As I was about to pass her, I looked behind me and saw cars coming in the traffic lane, so I stayed just to the inside edge of the white line (we were both in a bike lane/shoulder, and she was running toward me, so she saw me coming for a while).

Wha...? That is bizarre. If you were riding with traffic in a bike lane, wasn't she running the wrong way? Not that that is a huge deal when you're a pedestrian, but certainly not a place to be bossy.

[redrhodie]

Wha...? That is bizarre. If you were riding with traffic in a bike lane, wasn't she running the wrong way? Not that that is a huge deal when you're a pedestrian, but certainly not a place to be bossy.

That's how they run here, towards traffic. I suppose that's so they can see and get out of the way of oncoming vehicles, or push said vehicles into the road .

I ride that route several times a week, and haven't seen her before. I'll give her more space if I see her again. She's obviously a loose cannon. Better just stay out of her way.

[lph]

Heh, I suddenly realized that I "almost" ran a cyclist down this morning because I thought he was a pedestrian... I didn't actually get anywhere near him, but I was in full flow along the very busy bike path that every morning hosts the local "Tour de Finance", and had to switch sides from left to right, crossing the path of a couple of pedestrians walking towards me with plenty of space to spare. But just as I check my back and swing out to switch sides I see a blur in front of me. I just have time to think "Whoa, THAT'S not a pedestrian!" and swerve back.

Just goes to show, when making split-second decisions it's not always easy to see what's what, and it's especially hard to judge the speed of someone heading toward you - the same way many drivers misjudge the speed of cyclists.

[kmehrzad]

Just goes to show, when making split-second decisions it's not always easy to see what's what, and it's especially hard to judge the speed of someone heading toward you - the same way many drivers misjudge the speed of cyclists.

You're absolutely right. Before casting judgment, we should consider the other person's perspective. Glad it all worked out well for you and the other cyclist.

[redrhodie]

Yesterday's commutes were much better! With dense fog in the morning, a truck driver was kind enough to wave that he saw me, and let me have the right of way through a dicey intersection. Little things like that make me happy. PM commute was really fast, one of those rare occasions where I felt like going all out. Beautiful day, except for 100% humidity.

[e.e.cummings]

This was my first week commuting every single day! Feels great. It rained two days as well (nothing to write home about, but the path is remarkably empty when even a little rain falls - I look forward to it even more, it is a much easier ride without the congestion). Friday's commute was great - weather was perfect. One thing I notice - I still don't feel great going into a sharp turn, I slow down a lot, probably more so than others. I took a turn so sharply once that my pedal scrapped the ground and it made me nervous in my turns. Something to work on...