City Pedaling

I love commuting on my bike. I get to ride through the city, get some exercise, and it relieves stress. There are so many benefits. 90% of the time I have a smooth ride to and from work. This morning did not fall into that 90%. There are some mornings and afternoons that I have a ride where one thing after another happens. Unlike many bikers I see I wear a helmet, never listen to headphones and follow the rules of the road. I think it is these things that keep me safe on my bike. It takes time and practice to hone your bike instincts while riding through the city. However, there are just some days that are so aggravating it is just really scary.

Today was a dozy:
1. Roslindale- barely a mile into my commute. School bus van on Washington Street in Roslindale decided even though there were plenty of spots to pull into she parks in the bike lane forcing me to weave into the traffic behind me to get around her. She got out of the van with children and proceed to cross the busy street. I was like,"You could not pull into a spot?", her response, "No!". Nice....and people trust you with their kids. UGH.

2. Brookline Village- about 4 miles into my commute. I am riding with traffic through a green light and I see this woman trying to pull out of a parking spot in front of the Post Office. She has her window open and is looking out the window behind her to see when she is clear. I am riding with the cars and they all pass me. She looks right at me and pulls out right in front of me anyway. This caused me to weave around her to avoid her. Since her window is open I say, "REALLY, you are going to pull out in front of me anyway?", she yelled something and drove beside me yelling at me then pulled in front of me again to pull into a parking spot. I was so angry. I yelled something about if she kills someone it will affect her the rest of her life. What a jerk. I would not mind if she did not see me or was just looking in her mirror, but she had her head out the window and saw me coming.

3. Harvard and Comm Ave.-about 6 miles into my commute. I am riding through a green light, this guy decides he wants to take a right and cannot wait the 1 second it will take me to get past the street he wants to take a right on(Comm. Ave.). So he swerves around me to beat me to the right turn, thus cutting me off. This happens a lot while I am riding. People do not realize how fast I am going and try to get ahead of me thus completely cutting me off. Not be morbid but I knew a young women in Western Ma. who was killed this way. Really sad.

This was certainly an unusual morning for incidents. After hearing about a biker getting killed the other day one would think both drivers and bikers would be more careful. I see so many egregious driving and biking violations it is surprising there are not more deaths on the road. I think many drivers do not realize how much damage they can do with their car, they drive like it is a weapon. But why should anyone care, I never see police doing anything about it. Until that starts to happen things will not really change. All I can do is follow the rules of the road and enjoy each bike ride while I can.