I was exiting a parking lot, slowing down to look to my left for cars before turning right, when all of a sudden there was a young woman on a bike right in front of me. I slammed on my brakes, and so did she.
What she had done was to cut across the right hand lane turning left into the lot where I was. Incredibly foolish because there were large bushes hiding any cars that would be coming out in that right lane. She was riding into a totally blind spot. If I had not been driving slowly and paying attention I would have hit her. I would have felt so awful even though I would not have been responsible in any way.
A few minutes later I came back to the parking lot, and happened to see her standing with a young man, both of whom had bikes. I told her that she was lucky I was paying attention because I could have killed her. She said I was right, and thanked me.
And then I did an old man thing. I couldn't help it. I said "You really ought to be wearing helmets." It was clear to me that they were not serious bike riders--their bikes were old, they had no helmets, no lights were on the bikes, and they were in dark clothing. As I walked away, the young man said "I guess you don't need helmets if you are confident in your riding." I replied: "Just keeping thinking that way."
That's what happens when one's confidence exceeds one's common sense.
The other big event with cycling this week was almost being on the other end of a cyclist-vehicle collision.
It was a sunny day, so both Vicky and I were very visible. In fact, we are visible in ways that would embarrass a lot of serious bike riders.
For example, we both have purchased white shoes. White shoes show up when they are pedaling. We wear bright clothing. I even wear red cycling pants because of their visibility. I had on a bright yellow shirt. And, to top it off, both Vicky and I have four blinking tail lights. That is not a misprint. Four blinking lights each. I figure that if one works, then four will work even better. And if one doesn't work, then four might.
We also ride single file, as far to the right as is safe. When cars come, we move into the shoulder if there is one.
Well, at this particular spot, the shoulder was rocky, so I yelled to Vicky that there was a bus behind us. We are passed by buses all of the time--no big deal. Because I always ride a bit to the left of Vicky, I moved to just the left of the white line that separates the road from the shoulder. Where I am riding can be seen in this photo:
And then all of a sudden this bus was right next to me. Inches away. As can be seen, I am still just to the left of the white line.
And then, half a second later, it is clear that after the bus is right upon me, I quickly start to move over into the rocky shoulder, even though I don't want to be there for safety reasons. I know it is half a second later because my GoPro is set up to take photos every half second.
One can also see that the bus has not moved over to pass me. Not even an inch.
Take a look at this next photo. This is one second after the bus started to pass me. Imagine a cyclist in the area between the bus and the white line, which is where I was. You can also see that in that one second, I have headed into the rocky shoulder.
This is dangerous. I have narrower tires than Vicky, and wanted to avoid this rocky shoulder because there is an increased risk of falls. But I had to bail.
Here is another shot, showing the virtual lack of any distance between the bus and the area left of the white line. You can also see from this photo why the driver did not pull over. He had committed himself to continue driving, and then saw there was a car coming toward him so couldn't pull over.
He should have slowed down, waiting for oncoming cars to pass, and then passed us.
I caught up to him later, and he got an earful. He said he thought he had room to pass. This was clearly either a lie or he is incompetent.
It was not a Whidbey Island school bus. I did find out where it was from, and called their school district. it appeared to me that the person in charge of transportation took the situation seriously. I explained that if the driver thought he had room to pass then this suggested that the person shouldn't be driving children. And he shouldn't.
Everyone elses give us plenty of room when they pass us. Whidbey Island drivers are very careful and considerate, and we really appreciate it. We say a lot of "thank yous" to motorists.
When you have a wide vehicle, like this bus driver, you darned well know it. We have a wide vehicle (our pickup and camper) and drive and pass accordingly. You quickly realize how much of the road you are taking.
Two incidents this week involving bikes and cars. For one, a cyclist endangered herself physically (and me emotionally). For the other, a careless, hurried, hostile? bus driver endangered me.
We all need to be careful. Share the road. Be considerate. There is room for everybody if we all use some common sense.
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