HB COLD

Something has been driving me absolutely crazy here lately, and no it's not the cold, or the shorter and shorter days, or the fact that there is very little to do here. I am talking about the rules of traffic. I guess it has something to do with a small town mentality, and J-town is a very small town, that makes people forget that they are not alone, that there are other people using the same paths and therefore, the rules of traffic must be obeyed. Too many times I will be riding my bike and there will be a group of people riding their bike in the opposite direction. Well I get as far over to the right as possible and I expect the same from the other people. Instead, these other people see the fact that I have cleared the way for them and rather than doing the same, they move even closer to me.

Now I used to have this problem in New York, when I first got there and people never moved out of my way. And so, after time I decided to increase my speed and "stay the course" rather than doing the polite thing and move slightly. This strategy worked and I began to feel more and more like a New Yorker because of it. But, now that I am riding a bike, the collision factor would have much more impact and because of this, I must still get out of the way. I think that I might invest in body armor and play crash test dummy with any idiot who refuses to obey the rules.

Last night, some fool was riding by himself on the left side of the road and almost ran straight into me. I couldn't believe it. My light was on, it was at a well lit intersection and he didn't seem to have a cane or anything. But on he came, until I finally shouted at him. And let me tell you something, for however much I would like to shout at all of these people, I never do. That's how close this guy was to hitting me. I hate this guy. I to make matters worse, my bell is now broken. I have to go out and buy one today so I can tell people that I am coming and that they need to move over. OK, so how was your day?