18 September 2009

Smartass???!?

I'm near the end of my ride, going northbound on Yosemite approaching Belleview. I maintained a good head of steam climbing out of the "valley" that starts at Caley, and am going 28-30 mph downhill with no wind. Looking ahead, the left-turn cycle has just ended, my green signal is fresh, and through traffic will have time to get going before I reach the intersection. Life is good.

Enter the silver Hyundai Sonata (or similar nondescript sedan) heading westbound on Belleview (coming in from my right). Through traffic is stopped, but he's rolling up to the light. Okay, I think, he's going to turn right. And turn right he does... Without stopping at the red light... Right in front of me.

Okay, I wasn't THAT close to the intersection, and I was definitely keeping an eagle eye on this guy, but he really blew the light, and I had to take evasive action. There was no oncoming traffic, so I moved left to go around him, shouting "Hey! Hey! HEY!!!" I pass the car on the left, give him an exaggerated "WTF?" shrug as I go by, then get over into the bike lane on the right. The adrenaline is flowing, but I don't plan to escalate this past the verbal stage. I mean, had I been in my car, I would've leaned on the horn for about 10 seconds, but I don't have that option on the bike.

The car catches up to me and tries to match my speed. At this point, I see his right-front window is down (his mortified SO is in the passenger's seat) so I yell in, "Say you're sorry!" His response is muffled. Say again? "F*ck you, Smartass!" At this point, I'm dumbfounded. He could've killed me, and he calls me a smartass? He's ahead of me now, so I do my best pantomime routine, covering my face and shaking my head, looking up and appealing to the heavens, "why is this guy allowed to drive?"

Now, traffic ahead is starting to build, and the car slows. As I motor by in the bike lane, I turn to the open window and ask, "Smartass???!?" No answer. I'm guessing his SO gave him what for after he told me off. Buh-bye.