I've been riding my bicycle more - shocking, I know - but the majority of my miles haven't been back and forth to work. I ride for exercise and just for fun, to get out of the apartment. I'm racking up a lot of experience, but like being sandwiched in between a passing semi on one side and an SUV on the other, not all of it is enjoyable.
I was riding one of my favorite routes last Sunday morning. There's a short greenway that follows a creek for two miles that isn't far from my apartment, and I usually work it into a 4 mile circuit that I ride 3, 4, or 5 times depending on how spunky I'm feeling. The greenway is two miles of flat, smooth pavement, and you can really get cruising on a bike, even a mountain bike in dire need of a tune up rolling on fat tires.
The path has a designated split for bikes and pedestrians, which should come in handy for bike riding speed junkies. Unfortunately 80% of the pedestrians ignore the demarcation. Conversely, I have yet to see a fellow cyclist "breaking the rules" and riding on the wrong side of the line. Such is life. Usually, the greenway is lightly populated, and when I need to pass someone, I use proper etiquette: "'On your left', or 'on your right.'"
Well, Sunday morning I went out for a short "wake up" ride (refer to my previous post). Apparently others had a similar idea because the path was busier than normal. I spent a lot of tune slowing down and weaving to get around groups of people. Then, just before I was going to exit the greenway, I hit a "clot." A couple with a stroller was walking down the very middle of the trail, while another couple was heading towards me on the pedestrian side.
Now, while a cyclist on a road bike might slow and wait, that thought didn't cross my mind - I have a mountain bike! I was on the right, and I planned to go around on the right in the grass. Then, for some bizarre reason, I called out: "Behind you!" I still wonder why I said that instead of the proper: "On your right."
What did the couple with the stroller do? Bless them, lefty just stopped dead and half turned to stare at me, while righty proceeded to cross the rest of the path directly into my turn, pushing the stroller in front of them. Words failed me as I careened towards the stroller. I know I must be descend from an ape: instead of shouting a warning, howls and gibberish more befitting a chimpanzee issued from my lips. I guess that got righty's attention though because they finally stopped dead in their tracks as I passed around the stroller, which was now on the grass, with inches to spare. I remember the blond haired, blue eyed toddler smiling up at me as I pulled my leg away to make sure I didn't kick her.
I pedaled away as fast as I could, fiercely griping the handle bars to stop from shaking.
Should I have stopped and apologized? I knew then that if I did stop, I wouldn't have had anything nice to say, so I pushed harder. Was I in the wrong? I'm not sure.
I'm lucky - I know it. I hope I've grown from the experience. I will now always say "on your left or right," and when passage is in question I will slow down and wait. I ride to enjoy life, not send little Becky Sue, or myself, to the hospital.
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