Sometimes I wonder what other cyclists are thinking. Like that guy on my commute this morning.

You see, there is this long downhill which I can coast at 20mph or pedal hard and maybe hit 30mph, where the car speed limit is 30mph with an unattended-radar speed display, with a school at the bottom with a time-dependent school zone speed limit of 20mph, followed by another 200 yards to a busy stoplight. On the approach to the stoplight the road splits into two lanes, one for left turn, one for straight and right so drivers often crowd the right-side curb. On a bad-traffic day the backup at the light can be such that a car can take several light cycles to finally get through the light. In those cases I usually walk the bike down the sidewalk to the light because I know I'll get there before the light goes green on at worst the second cycle.

So this morning I'm coasting down the hill at ~20 when another cyclist bombs by me with no warning doing over 30 easily. He was flying, head down, pedaling hard in a high gear. Except that we both could see the loooong line of stopped cars, school buses, trucks, etc. I reached the end of the stopped traffic at least 100 yards from the light, a good two light cycles' worth, so I pulled the bike over the curb and started walking. In 20 or 30 yards I passed the other guy waiting in line with the cars. I paused and told him I usually walked there because blah blah blah. He mumbled something.

So I made it to the light before it turned green the first time, hopped on the bike and looked around for that other cyclist, never saw him. When the light turned green I rode through with the lead vehicle, a school bus. About 1/4 of a mile later he flew by me again, head down, pedaling hard. I saw him make a left turn further up the road.

Now, I know he was so far back that if he waited in line he would have had to wait two light cycles. So I figure he either ran the light or weaved his way up to the front somehow. But I had told him how the lights worked. He just didn't want to lower himself actually to walk his bike, I guess. Or else he didn't want to listen to a guy with a gray beard riding a (oh, the horrors!) steel bike.

Sometimes I wonder what other cyclists are thinking.