Health Food Rage
0 comment Saturday, September 6, 2014 |
There was something in the air yesterday that made drivers extra crazy. Perhaps the looming recession was on everyone's minds, or maybe they were mourning the death of Heath Ledger. Whatever it was, I noticed a lot more aggression than usual. The most notable near-death experience I had was with a lovely person in a car plastered with bumper stickers with phrases such as "peace on earth", "Buck Fush", and my favorite "no more blood for oil" (I wonder if the irony is lost on people in cars with this bumper sticker?).
As I was waiting for cars to pass at the intersection of 14th and Ogden, this woman pulled up behind me and slowly started to edge next to me on my left. Apparently, she thought that I should have gone already (even though there were a constant stream of cars on 14th and I like not dying). After about 30 seconds, she felt that it was time to pass me... even though there was nowhere for her to go. She came up on my left side, blocking the other lane of traffic. I was not about to give into this, so when an opportunity to came, I quickly sprinted through the intersection. This enraged her. She followed me the next three blocks in the left hand lane (keep in mind this is a narrow two lane road). She yelled out her window "YOU FUCKING CYCLISTS ALWAYS DO THIS!!!". I continued to ride at a brisk pace, not allowing her to pass (there was no room for her to pass, and I was going as fast as traffic should be going).
After three blocks of this, we both turned on 11th and we both turned into the Wild Oats parking lot. She looked like she was going to park, but instead decided to leave and sped out of the parking lot. It's interesting, people are always so much more brazen and abrasive when they're behind the wheel, but if faced with the possibility of a face-to-face confrontation, they always seem to run away.

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