Blowing & Drifting

Five kinds of Northfield drivers who irk me when I’m on my bike:

1. Those who, when passing me from behind, swing alllllll the way over into the opposite lane – even if we’re on a curve or a hill – and then take roughly four minutes to finish the pass. (7:50 a.m. today on Spring Creek Road.)

2. Those who, when coming toward me, decide that they rilly rillly rilly need to pass the bike in the other lane and swing alllllll the way over into my lane – even if we’re on a curve or a hill – and then, seeing me coming toward them, speed up to whip back into their own lane before I have to veer off the road but usually after I start to look for escape routes. (7:52 a.m. today on Wall Street Road.)

3. Those who don’t signal their turns but then scowl at me when I stop to figure out if they’re going to pilot their four-ton SUV into my route. (4:29 p.m. today at the entrance to subdivision.)

4. Those who stop at an intersection and then wave me through, even though they a) might not have a stop sign and b) reached the intersection before me. (Every day, often at the intersections near campus.)

5. Those who gun their engines to roar past me on the streets only to have to stop fifty feet away at the next stop sign, literally one second before I get to the same spot. (Many mornings, again, often near campus.)