today I am scheduled to work lateshifting my post work ride to a pre-work ride
checking my messages in the am I learned that my late shift has turned into a long shift as my boss is sick and I need to head into work early to cover
so much for a long pre-work ride
yet there was room for a ride just the same
so my morning went along with the dressing of the boys, the walking of the dogs, my drinking of the coffee, and more drinking of the coffee
then on the bike
this morning I got on the fixed gear and headed on a short loop around town
down into rock creek park
onto broad branch
into chevy chase dc
into chevy chase maryland
onto the capitol crescent trail
spin the slight grade downhill into georgetown onto M Street towards work
as I turned onto M Street I made a cautious line through the bumper to bumper cars then popped free into carlessness on the bridge
in the left lane I felt the presence of a bike beside me
a bike along side of me uncomfortably close
so I asked the rider to give me some space
not so much as a turn of the head
I let him go.... okay.... I let him go as I made one or two cuss-less cat calls
something about my space
something about his mother wanting her bicycle back
those words from a man on a pink fixed gear
so... he made his pass
I went on to do my thing
I thought about it and figured maybe I had cut him off in my meanderings through the wall of traffic
then
as we approached more traffic... without a glance back... my friend who failed to respect my space then failed to respect my line
he cut me off just as I was about to shoot a gap
again I said a few things
again he did not respond to my words
he didn't hear me
he didn't see me
it was then that I realized that I was dealing with TOMMY ON THE BIKE
so I let him go
after this blog post... he will be gone entirely
until I see him again
where I will be sure to give him plenty of space
as well as predict his very predictable behavior
even with having to deal with other people
it was still a great 45-50 minutes on the bike
topped off with a shower at work
nothing short of refreshing