The sheep have nothing to do with this.

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Cute sheep need to have their picture taken.

For some reason, many people assume that since I don’t own a car and bike everywhere instead, I will be more than willing to sympathize with them in the trials of car ownership. (For the record, this assumption is correct.) My coworker was telling me this morning how annoying her car is and how much of her budget it eats up each mouth.

Then she said, “I wish I could bike like you.”

I tried to explain to her that she totally could do it. Personally, I started out small, biking twenty miles a week and it gradually snowballed from there. Hopefully, one of these days (the sooner, the better) she will hop on her bike and see how awesome and doable bike commuting is.

On my ride home from work, I was pedaling along a side street when I saw a car beginning to back out of a driveway.  My habit is to pause and ensure the driver sees me before I continue on. I was a good thing I stopped, because he didn’t.  He pulled out of the driveway without a glance to see if there any traffic behind him.

Thankful for dodging the car, I let out a relieved sigh. Then it pulled up beside me.

“I am so sorry, I didn’t see you!” the driver exclaimed.

He is not the first driver to pull out in front of me, but he is the first to apologize for his error. I am awarding him bonus points. I will not award myself any bonus points, however, because my response was pitiful.

“It’s okay, I am always on the lookout for cars!”

As the car drove on down the road. I processed what had come out of my mouth. Seriously, girl? I totally made it sound like since I was on the lookout for him, he didn’t need to be on the lookout for me. Oops. I am gonna to be cautious  on the road and bike as defensively as possible, but I also expect my fellow road users to do the same. I need to think up a better response in the event that something similar happens in the future. But at least I didn’t say, “I’m good, thank you!” 

10 thoughts on “The sheep have nothing to do with this.”

  1. I got hit by a car the other day. I managed to keep my balance and not fall down (it was a swiping on my shoulder from the opposite direction), but the driver did realize he hit me. He stopped and waited for me to see if I was ok. I lost my shit at him. Then I thanked him for stopping, because while he was a total shit for hitting me, he did deserve points for stopping.

    I don’t think there’s a right answer. And I don’t know if it matters. It only takes one car to kill you.

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    • I am glad to hear you are okay! That is scary!

      There is a certain element of danger to being on the road but I would rather face it on my bike then in a vehicle 🙂

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  2. Us bike riders and motorcycle riders are not common sights on the road. Very often, even though people in cars are looking right at us, they don’t see us. Try the awareness test.

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    • I have never thought of myself as a moon-walking bear before…
      Now next time someone apologizes for not seeing me I will have to say, “Please watch out for us moon-walking bears!”

      You are so right though, especially during the winter, when I was riding in the early morning, I constantly reminded myself that cars would not expect to see a cyclist. Keeping that type of attitude kept me cautious and aware.

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  4. I’m afraid my response is somewhere between yours and PinkyB’s. “No you couldn’t see me because YOU DIDN’T LOOK!” Rather than stopping for the car, I’m more likely to yell as they pull out. I used to have a canned air horn that I originally got to stop dogs (didn’t work) and it became a regular horn like cars use. Good for you on keeping your cool. That’s probably the better ambassadorship.

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