caring drivers

today, at about 4:40, as i rode through north through the s-curve on jackson street i met a really nice guy. it was amazing. he was so worried about my safety (as i rode my bike down the road) that he hung out the passenger window of his buddy's green mustang (somewhere betwee 2001-2005 model year) and politely suggested that i ride on the sidewalk instead of the road. well, he didn't sound so polite at first, but i'm sure he was only yelling to make sure i could fully understand him.

he was so concerned about me that he threw in a few f-in-heimers to show me how much he cared. when i pointed to the bright white text that spelled "bikes only" on the road in the designated bike lane in which i was riding, he wouldn't accept that it was safe enough for me. he cared so much that he offered to punish me if i didn't get onto the sidewalk. wow, if that's not love, i don't know what is. after a smile and a wave from me, he and his pal sped off down the road.

ok, so he wasn't so happy with me. i'm not sure what i did wrong. if you look at this picture there are two arrows visible. the one that points northeast is a single lane and just as i was going through there, i glanced over my shoulder to see a car speeding along in the left lane as if it was going to try to slip around in front of me. so, to let them know i had the lane, i moved over to the middle and signaled a right turn. then jackson street merges with acker for 1/2 block at which point jackson heads back north, so i signaled a left turn and entered the designated bike lane. this car, a mustang no less, was right behind me as i entered the first turn but was way off my wheel by the time i made it through the second turn, so it's not as if i was holding them up, which confuses me about why he had so much to say to me. (and no, he wasn't really looking out for my well being.)

the only thing i can figure that i may have done to make them so angry is that when i signaled my turns, i may have done so with my index finger aloft instead of with a flat hand. if i did that, they may have thought (incorrectly) that i was flipping them off. yeah, maybe i'm giving the guy too much credit. i'm sure it was the meth. i bet he was mad because high gas prices meant he had to car pool with someone who pisses him off, so he took it out on someone whose commute isn't directly affected by the price of gas. ha! i bet after they were done with me, they went to the parking lot of a vegetarian restaurant to yell at the people inside because hamburgers are getting expensive... sheesh!

gosh, i'm going to try to remember to use all my fingers when signaling turns so as not to be mistaken for someone making an unkind gesture.


--rt