Last night's commute was dark. I had an hour to get to my car before sunset, but with the cloud blanket, it was pretty dark right from the start. First ride of the season with a helmet light. Added my extra blinky, too.

In the morning, some guys on 'cross bikes were riding behind me, so I held up and let them pass. Then they slowed a bit and were riding at my speed, so I stayed with them, happy to have some shelter from the headwind. We were on the bike path. At the first street crossing, the first guy called out "clear" and the second guy and I went through. I had been talking to the second guy, so they knew I was there. At the next street, first guy goes through, not saying "car", the second guy doesn't say anything, just brakes hard, and I nearly rear end him. Luckily I was already preparing to turn off the bike path, and they were going straight, so I had just enough room to squeak by and not hit him. That coulda been really embarrassing. My own fault for riding too close to strangers.