This evening's ride on the MUP involved a couple of incidents that, to me anyway, seem to break even.

En route to a grocery store that stocks the last of my favorite local seasonal ale, I passed a woman who let her hot dog roam freely around the trail, despite the many cyclists, joggers, walkers and every other dog walker with their dogs appropriately leashed. I slowed. The dog bumbled toward me. I moved and slowed. The dog bumbled back toward me. Lather, rinse, repeat. This went on and on for what seemed like forever, although I'm sure the entire incident lasted only a few seconds. The woman offered a jolly "Hi!" but did nothing to corral her wayward mutt.

I just shrugged it off and moved along, figuring my track stand practice was paying off.

Then, my grocery shopping completed, while pulling out of the parking lot driveway, I somehow managed to completely misjudge an approaching car as it prepared to turn. In retrospect, I should have waited for the car to pass and finish its turn. Just one of those split second snap judgments that went awry.

The driver nearly skid to a stop and swerved toward the curb, just missing his intended turn. I noticed his turn signals flashing. I was completely prepared to offer my most sincere apologies, and to listen to his righteous rants about reckless cyclists. I was just going to say "Yup, you're right, I was wrong, sorry."

None of which happened. He carefully pulled back into the lane, proceeded another 100 yards, and made a U-turn to go back to his original turnoff. He didn't honk, cuss, drive aggressively or anything. Who knows, maybe he was also a cyclist and realized we occasionally do dumb stuff.

I felt like a dope. But I figured it was too late to offer an apology, and being after dark any hand gestures I might offer could be misinterpreted as a middle finger salute. So I just moved along, determined not to make that particular bone headed mistake again. There are plenty other boneheaded mistakes yet to be made.