I got humbled today.

I'm not talking about speed on a bike - no, I wasn't planning on setting any speed records today, especially since I skipped breakfast. I'm talking about riding in traffic.

I would say that I am quite comfortable and confident in downtown Toronto thick traffic, taking the lane when appropriate and filtering when appropriate and lane-splitting when appropriate.... To me it's like a fun video game. The idea is to move forward as fast as possible while maintaining safety and minimizing conflict. Make a right move - and you zip by an intersection ahead of everybody without inconveniencing a soul; make a wrong move - you interfere with three drivers who have the ROW -- and still miss the light.

So today I made a wrong decision to hang on the right side of my lane approaching an intersection, while two other commuters (who were pedalling slower than I btw) moved to the left, did a bit of lane-splitting, and disappeared into the sunrise... while I ended up stuck behind a right-turning truck and had to wait for a whole extra light cycle. Normally I am the cyclists who passes on the left, smiling at the curb-huggers, who insist on being stuck behind all right-turners or on being right-hooked. Today, at that intersection, I was that stupid curb-hugger.

Oh well.