Training Log Archive: BigWillyStyle

Event: Soaring Eagle Checkpoint Run
 

Loops 1, 4, and 5 of the Soaring Eagle Checkpoint Run. I had not orienteered in Soaring Eagle before and had only been there a small handful of times, and my expectations were blown away by how nice and open the terrain was; somehow no one told me about this. I am kicking myself for not having been training there for years.

New record! For whatever reason, felt AWESOME today. Favorable winds a factor.

People in the Seattle area are generally very bike-aware, which of course I appreciate, but take it almost to a fault at times. This manifests primarily in awkward situations at various types of intersections where a car(s) which clearly has the right-of-way will nonetheless yield to me.

Or something like this morning, where I was sitting at a red light (not moving, leaning on the curb, in a dedicated bike lane, with plenty of space on all sides) and the woman in the car next to me rolled down her window to ask if she could turn right on the red. Uh, sure? Watch out tho I might spontaneously launch myself into motion and T-bone you for lolz? Funny. It seems that a cyclist has the same sort of illogical power over drivers that a mouse has over the proverbial elephant who is petrified of mice.

Unfortunately, I suspect this hyper-defensive driving attitude is in part due to many cyclists acting unpredictably and disobeying the laws of the road; I myself have certainly been guilty of this at times. But that's only because I value speed over safety so don't worry about it it's fine.

In addition, consider this intersection, down the block from my house:

There are stop signs both ways on 18th, while Massachusetts is uncontrolled - though there are crosswalks, neon crosswalk street signs, and hash marks denoting a bike crossing (because this is a city-designated biking route). Thus, seeing all this, many drivers will greatly slow or even stop before crossing the intersection, even though there is no requirement to do so. I have been waiting at the stop sign on my bike for a clear time to cross, when a driver has literally stopped to let me cross. This is bizarre behavior if you see yourself as a car, as I do, but makes perfect sense if you consider a cyclist in the same category as a pedestrian, as the driver likely did.