HANG UP AND DRIVE!

Yesterday was my 2nd day of commuting and it actually felt pretty good. I don't know if it was because my bag was lighter or my body was not shocked by biking again, although the hill I have to climb immediately after leaving my office is going to suck for quite awhile. I work in a building at the bottom of a steep hill (~5% to 13% grade) so I have to start my evening ride with a climb and I'm not a huge fan of hills but I'm sure I'll get better.

So I made my way home last night with very few issues (slightly annoyed by drivers that feel the need to rush past me only to get to the red light immediately in front of me) and was actually have a lot of ideas to put in this post but instead you will get a rant.

I don't understand how society has become so self-absorbed to the point that people think they are the only ones on the road. I was at the end of my block trying to turn left when a car (with 2 girls in scrubs) pulls out of a medical building parking lot so I stop to give them the right away. At this point, I realize that the driver is talking on her cellphone (not hands-free) and has not noticed me trying to balance on my bike waiting for her to figure out what in the hell she is going to do. BTW, she has stopped in the middle of the street, trying to figure out which way to go. Finally she notices me, starts to move out of my way, stops, and decides to let me go first by waving me on. So I start to go, annoyed that this driver can't figure out what she wants to do, but apparently I wasn't moving fast enough for her because she started to go. At this point, I have to stop and unclip (almost fell over). I'm sure she could see the rage building in my face so I think she finally just decided to stop and let me get on my way.

I know this could situation could be chalked up to a situation where 2 people are trying to get out of each others way but you keep moving left or right at the same time and it looks like you are just doing some sort of funky dance but I see too many distracted drivers on the road and this is just one example. Instead of figuring out her route and finishing the phone call prior to leaving the parking garage, she felt the need to do all of this in the middle of the street.

Obviously, making it illegal to talk on a cellphone while driving has not really deterred people from doing it (like a lot of things) so I guess I'll have to wait for Google to perfect the self-driving car.

HANG UP AND DRIVE!

Stay safe out there...