Yesterday I was reading Litespeed's thread about close calls and was glad for her safety, in a detached way. I thought, "That blows; be careful out there."
Today I have a different perspective and appreciation for the pucker moments.
I was headed west at the end of a 35 mi. training ride. A ginormous diesel-powered pick up approached a stop sign on my right, headed south. He had the stop signand I had the right-of-way. As he came toward the sign at speed I noticed that he was looking west, not east, and thus didn't see me. I guessed (correctly) that he was going to roll through the stop and turn left (east). Without thinking I swerved into the (fortunately empty) lane and stared at him. He had a bluetooth and was talking on it; he didn't see me, and his face was all
Seriously, he was scared. The look on his face made my day.
Still, I was scared as well; it was a close call -- had I not swerved into traffic he would've hit me; had there been traffic I would have been hit. I looked over my shoulder all "Dude, WTF!" and he was waving and apologizing and looking relieved.
I hope he stops at that sign from now on. And I'll continue to pay attention.