Today's commute was... interesting. I ride on a road that is in not-so-great shape because there isn't much traffic on it for my area -- it's quite popular with the local bicycle commuting crowd. I tend to ride a 6-8" strip of the road that is in the "best" shape. To the right is the battered remains of the asphalt in the form of gravel that can easily dismount a rider, not to mention all the poorly installed grates and meter holes. Most people on the route are quite patient with bicyclists, which is good, because there tend to be a lot of us. Today, though, sphincters were falling from the heavens...
On the first leg of my four-part commute today, I got clipped by some guy in a grey minivan who passed me on the right, after jumping the curb. My first bike-car accident. Didn't get hurt, but still... unnerving. Wish I'd got the license plate, but I was too focused on regaining control of my bike.
On the third leg, I had another encounter with my favorite breed of road warrior: the honk-and-hover. This particular specimen hung out maybe 2 feet from my rear wheel, close enough that I couldn't slow down to get over, leaning on his horn for about a quarter mile, thanks to just enough oncoming traffic that he couldn't pass. Like I said, most people on my route know that there are just pieces of the road that bikers just can't get over to let people pass, but this hero of the road was just too important for patience. After about 300 yards of constant honking, the horn on his car descended into an inconsistent warble, only to die maybe 50 feet later. I could hear him pounding on the switch, and the horn motor clicking to no avail. So the jerk takes a quick right trying to make the block and get in front of me at the next light. At said light, I passed him stopped at the red light in the straight-or-left lane. His face was incredible. I actually felt sorry for him.
What's funny, is, I was making really good time for my ride. I was catching up to traffic at every stoplight, hitting them just right so I didn't have to even slow down much.
:shrug: