Friday, July 07, 2006

Good Samaritans

Another great day to ride to work. Next week looks rainy, so I've been happy to take advantage of this week's sunshine.

I wasn't about to take the same route for the third day, so I opted for the North Work Route home. However, I ran by the theater on the way to pick up tickets for Pirates 2 (there were none left), so I headed up Robinson to Salisbury and followed the rest of the route as usual.

I was coming up to the rail tracks on Lindberg when I noticed another cyclist coming up behind me. I figured he was a roadie that would blow past me after the bumpy crossing, but he seemed to disappear. It was only about 10 seconds later when I noticed a gentleman getting out of a pickup that had just passed me and then pulled over. He asked me if I had lost a pack, and sure enough, my pannier was gone - containing my wallet, keys, camera, Blackberry, and work clothes!

Just as I turned around to head back (after thanking him profusely), a 2nd pickup pulled over while honking. The driver motioned to the bed of his truck and said the bag was there. As the missing cyclist rolled past, the #2 driver told me that the lagging biker had stopped to grab the bag to return it to me.

A big thanks to all three of these guys who saved me much aguish and trouble.

It all turned sour, unfortunately, when the #2 pickup turned around in the middle of the road, stopping traffic in both directions. A lady in an SUV honked at him, and he returned the anger by stopping next to her and screaming something back at her. She looked to me for support, but I gave her the two hands up maneuver signaling "I'm not getting involved". I waited until all of the traffic had cleared, and my pannier was as securely fastened as possible, before continuing. I checked about every 3 seconds for the rest of the trip to make sure everything was still there.

A quick story from Wednesday's ride. I was waiting in line at the stop sign at the bottom of Williams Street about 6 cars back. Williams is a narrow 2-way street with parking on both sides where it hits River Road/US231 - a five lane, busy highway with a bike lane on each side. I refrain from passing the waiting cars on the right, since I know they won't be watching for me as they look for an opening in the passing traffic. Another cyclist was at the bottom to the right of a car waiting to turn right, and he made a sudden move to the left. Crossing in front of two waiting cars, he pedaled north in the southbound bike lane. What a bad move!

Miles Ridden: 12.8

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