In fact, I'm on the short fat side.
That fact though, is for another day.
Something happened yesterday that I forgot to talk about.
I did something I later regretted, then after thinking about, I didn't really regret.
I was traveling down the road on the extreme right side, when I looked up to see a young girl in her early teens riding towards me.
Now usually that's not so bad.
Well it kinda is.
Riding on the side of the road going in the opposite direction of traffic is dangerous. Trust me, I know cause I've done it a couple of times.
It's dangerous because vehicles entering traffic aren't looking for you. They, the drivers, are usually looking in the opposite direction at oncoming traffic.
Most people who do this probably think it's safer because you can see the cars coming towards you.
I'm willing to concede that point, but once you are on the road, a cyclist is considered a vehicle and must obey the traffic laws.
If I need to ride against the flow of traffic, I try not to ride on the road.
I'll take the sidewalk, thank you.
So anyways, I'm bearing down on this girl at with a closure rate that would freak out a jet pilot.
Okay, not really, but I'm coming up on her fairly quickly.
Most people I catch doing the wrong side of the road thing know better and yield to the person riding in the right direction.
Not this girl.
That's not the bad part.
She was riding on the road against the flow of traffic while talking on her freakin cell phone!
Once more for emphasis: she was riding the wrong way on the road while talking on her freakin cell phone!
Some primal urge welled up in me and:
Yep.
I yelled at her.
Now, I could have yelled a whole bunch of things. Especially since I was coming off a hard effort, when my brain isn't exactly functioning perfectly so I tend to regress a bit.
I could have yelled out a fabulously entertaining expletive. My better judgement and superior training took over and all I yelled was: wrong way!
Okay, it wasn't better judgement or training, "wrong way" was all I could think of at the moment.
After I passed her, all the fabulously entertaining expletives came to mind. That's when I started to feel guilty about the yelling part.
Then I rationalized.
Then I felt okay about it.
Just like the time I felt guilty about yelling at those old people who were going the wrong way forcing me into traffic.
Now I thought, boy, I must be some piece of work, yelling at young girls and old people.
Then I thought about all the guys I see riding the wrong way. The thing is, when that happens, most of the time, the guy riding the wrong way will yield.
He knows he's going the wrong way so he will accommodates the rider going the right way.
To avoid confrontation don't you know.
Anyways, to make a short story even longer, I wish people that want to ride on the road would ride like they are supposed to.
Then I wouldn't have to feel like a big meanie anymore.
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