I'd like to think that in all these years of riding my bike, I've gotten wiser and more aware on the road. Often times I don't think this is the case - I sometimes lose my temper at other people, and can get careless. Although today I was proud of myself.
I was biking up Market Street when a car in front of me started to turn right. I slowed down to nearly a stop, rather than passing it on the right, so that it could complete the turn. A woman on a bike right behind me didn't expect me to slow down and crashed into me on the left side.
"Wooo buddy!" I yelled, as I nearly fell off of my bike in the middle of the street.
"Why the hell are you stopping?!" She yelled back at me.
This caught me off-guard. I often encounter cyclists in a rush, who don't pay that much attention to traffic rules, but they at least realize they're in the wrong when something like this happens.
"I stopped because that car was turning right." I replied. We were now riding next to each other, semi-yelling.
"You didn't have to stop! What are you doing?!" She yelled.
"Yes I did." I yelled back at her. "I'm not trying to get hit here!"
She rolled her eyes. "You didn't have to stop!" She yelled again.
"Hey, look," I said. "I'm not mad. I'm just not at fault here. If more people actually stopped like that, maybe people wouldn't hate cyclists so much."
We'd ridden together for a good block at this point, yelling back and forth. She got quiet, and I saw something that looked like embarrassment pass over her face.
"I'm sorry," She said. "I'm really sorry."
This surprised me. "It's OK." I said, relieved.
"It was kind of a fist bump." She joked (her handle bar had hit mine).
"Yeah..." I replied, not quite ready to joke or be her friend yet, but grateful that the situation had calmed down.
"I'm really sorry about that." She said again.
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