Originally Posted by
PatrickGSR94
What gets me about this whole encounter was that I saw the car actually STOP at the stop sign, which almost NEVER happens around here. The car actually had plenty of time to go on and pull out and make the left turn before I got there. But he/she didn't, which is why I ASSumed they saw me. There were no other cars behind me, or ahead of me on that road. No cars from either direction, and the car on the other road was sitting there which is why I thought it was waiting for me to make my left turn. But the car started pulling out right as I got in front of it, such that I had to swerve right sharply.
All this was made worse by the fact that my chain was trying to drop onto the BB shell, and my feet were clipped into both pedals. So I was trying to backpeddle to get the chain back on the small ring AND avoid the car at the same time.
This does sound like a worst case. You can either say "I was very unlucky" or "I will never assume that driver is waiting for me again - because they could be looking at a map or texting." I'd go with the second. Never assume cooperation when lack of attention is possible - that doesn't mean you were culpable, just that there is a lesson you should learn.