My first commute of the new year was on my new BikeE semi-recumbent and was quite enjoyable on the way in: bright sunshine, crisp, cool air and, my oh my, that bike is comfortable to ride and quick too. Wish my legs were in September shape though. The ride home was a little more harrowing. There have been a number of reports recently remarking on how bad drivers are getting, how irresponsible and outright reckless they are becoming. Well, if I hadn't noticed before, I sure did today. Cars were zipping by with only inches to spare, not even slidng over to their left a few inches to ensure there was clearance. Good thing my new bike is equipped with a mirror, so I could see these kamikazes coming. There were more overly-aggressive, selfish and outright insane motorists out there today then I have ever seen before and I have been riding regularly for twenty-five years. Now, the difference between the two rides could be that I use a bike lane in the mornings and choose a non bike-lane route on the way home, but usually the route home isn't that busy yet at 4:15. Perhaps the cagers, accustomed to only seeing an endless sea of bumbers in front of them, see the open stretch of road and can't resist the urge to race down it as fast and wildly as possible. Maybe it's the rejuvenating spring air that induces such euphoric rapture in them or maybe they're all secretly trying to kill themselves (and others), but want to make sure they get on the news for the horrific accident they caused. I don't know. But tomorrow I'm taking the bike-lane route home as well as to work. As Sgt Esterhaus used to say on Hill Street Blues, 'let's be careful out there.'