Drivers were more irate, impatient and distracted than usual. I lost count of the number of times I thought to myself "hang up the phone and drive!" I admit, I forgot to use the more PC acronyms and threw out a few expletives during my 2hr jaunt through and around Ellicott City. At one point I was cruising on 108 through a green light and this 16 year old female decides to make a left turn from the opposite direction. She didnt stop until I had locked up my brakes and prepared for impact. We stopped close enough that I could slam my hand on her hood and tell her to hang up the eff'n phone. She didn't even apologize.I went out last Friday night with a couple of friends and we talked a bit about drivers and cyclists. It is pretty indicative when our friends/neighbors/family members have a negative and/or aggressive attitude toward cyclists - these people actually LIKE and KNOW us as people. This does not bode well for those that don't know/aren't related to a cyclist. I remember not too long ago having to lecture my mom that the cyclist that she complains and whines about might be ME !
After the first decent ride since my "break" from the bike, I hopped in the car to run some errands. Okay, the ultimate goal in my errand-running was to stop by Rita's for an italian ice. Anyhoo, I realized that EVERYONE is driving like a jerk-face - I think I was more frustrated in the car than I was on the bike.
I know a bunch of people are bummed that the Giro di Coppi is postponed but I have to say I'm relieved - after a week off the bike and I'm not going uphill that well right now, this gives me time to get back into the swing of things. Love the course and I'm glad they didnt have to change it. I didnt get to do it last year b/c they didnt have a field for me (only 3/4 women), so I am looking forward to the race when it does happen.
The season is winding down, though - I made a quick list of upcoming races that I plan to attend and realized how few there are ... Hunny Bop, Tour of Millersburg, Page Valley, Turkey Day, Giro. I've decided I'm going to lay off the TTs ... they're just not being friendly to me so until I figure out the issue, I'm not going to keep banging my head against the wall. One of the house-mates from Louisville generously offered to put my TT bike in their car for the trip home - I advised him that my feelings wouldn't be hurt if he pushed it out of the car on the highway ... yeah, I need a break from TTs.
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I could write a book on the introversion prevalent in American society (but I won't, because they wouldn't pay me enough to deal with the stress of beginning to think about it).
Every time there is a car vs. bike post on Mabra, I write and subsequently delete about 20 pages of email. Let's just get rich, buy a tone of land, and pave our own roads. We can have car lanes that come to dead-ends, and enforce a 15 mph speed limit.
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