What a Night!

Last night I rode the stationary bike at the gym for 15.25 miles. Mindlessly droning on and on and on. Even though the gym is air conditioned, I was drenched after my hour.

Tonight, however, I'm back in the real saddle and absolutely cranking along. I was a machine, I felt that I could ride all night long. About 17 miles into the ride, heading towards home, I am crossing the intersection of Higley & Elliott. I know you're probably thinking " you live at Higley & Elliott"; and I do. As I said, I felt that I could ride all night and decided to ride to the ball parks and come home along the power lines (another 4 miles or so).

So I'm cruising through the intersection, having just switched my headlight to flash for better visibility when this Chevy Avalanche approaches the intersection from the South....fast. He's gonna run the red, turn right and continue on his way. One small problem, I'm at the place where he needs to turn. I realize that he doesn't see me and is going to hit me. I hit the brakes, start yelling at him, and start evasive maneuvers. Well, he did hit me but not too hard. Actually he nudged me more that hit me. I pulled over to make sure my bike was OK. I wasn't even knocked off, but would have been pissed if this jackoff screwed up my bike. He sat at the intersection for a while, probably not realizing he just hit a cyclist. When he started to get out of the truck, I lectured him that he needs to watch out for us on the road and pay better attention. He mumbled some bullshit about losing me in the lights of the oncoming traffic. Now, I use my flashing front light n the road and wear a "hi-visibility" jersey. I'm sure all the way home he justified to his wife in the passenger seat how I was in the wrong for being at the intersection where he intended to run a red light. Jackass!

This little incident got me to thinking. Most of the bicycle/road safety information out there is geared for cyclists. Where's the bike safety info for motorists? We as cyclist have to ride as if we're invisible, because we are. There are far too many distractions to drivers these days (cell phones, lattes, changing radio stations, text messaging, being an idiot, ....)

I could have been going off like a roman candle on the 4th of July with a lit sparkler dangling out of my ass and this guy wouldn't have seen me. I am going to credit my defensive/evasive riding and Jedi reflexes for keeping this from being a much worse incident.

So if you are out there driving, please keep your eyes open for cyclists, and give them some room.

Am I some deranged trill seeker? no
Is riding at night dangerous? yes
Will I be back on the bike at night? you bet your ass!

Thanks for listening