Mongo was going to write about me getting fat over the winter and the interval hill training I've been doing to try to combat the inevitable...but that all changed this evening.
The fact is, I came as close as I ever have in my life as a cyclist to being run over, and possibly killed. And here's the kicker...it was totally my fault.
It was dusk, I was wearing Oakleys, (I did have my "blinky" light on) and I was attempting to cross a four lane road with a median. As I waited at the stop sign, all the cars that passed me had their lights on. So when I looked left and saw no lights, I thought it was all clear...I was wrong.
Once again...it was getting dark, and my dumb ass was wearing sunglasses.
The black Cadillac CTS with tinted windows and it's lights off passed in front of me as I clipped in and put the first down stroke to the pedal. It was so close that I could feel the heat of the exhaust on my leg. I never saw him coming!
Those of us who feel we are skilled and experienced cyclists have a tendency to get overconfident and oblivious with our surroundings. Today, I almost paid dearly.
Though we are at the mercy of motorists when we enter their domain, we as cyclists need to make sure we are not only protecting ourselves, but not doing stupid shit like I did today.
SAFETY FIRST !!!
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