On my way home I always ride along Atlantic Blvd to the beach, before going home. This road (in this section) has a speed limit of 35mph, but everyone is always doing at least 45; there is also no shoulder, you got the white fog line, then the curb, that's it.

Within the last couple months I've noticed this lady, a quintessential bag lady, that walks against traffic – cart, with bags, in tow -- along the fog line, every time I've had to quickly jump into the middle of the lane to avoid hitting her, yesterday was my latest encounter with her and being a Friday afternoon it was seriously crowded, with everyone going home.

On one level I don't mind so much, since I'm a pretty good cyclist, always looking ahead for problems, but on the other hand I do wonder why she does this – there is no shortage of sidewalks in this area, being a typical beach-side community. So she is deliberately walking in the road – simply crazy, because this is a very busy road with cars going at a good speed and absolutely no space between the curb and fog line. Clearly there is some mental issue at play here, because she is no more than 3 feet from the sidewalk, but she is always walking in the road... .



As I said before, she could be described as the quintessential bag lady, with a wheeled cart always in tow. I'm thinking about following her one day and ask her why she does this, and try to seem non-confrontational. I'm just not sure how to approach her without seeming like I'm being confrontational; I can just imagine her becoming very defensive.

Anyone ever seen something like this on your commute? Did you ever attempt to make contact? I do wonder if any cops ever seen her, since there are always police cars going up and down this section of road -- I can't imagine that have NOT seen her. Seems like they are also reluctant to make contact