As I sit here writing this, the sound of tonight's rain is hammering against the windows - hopefully it will have gone away by the morning, when an early start will mean a ride to work in the dark; rain would be one more thing to be concerned about, another method of hiding Yours Truly (even with fluorescent vest) from myopic car drivers.
That said, I just read on Highway Lass's blog that she thinks that car drivers are getting better at moving out of the way - on reflection, I come to the same conclusion; the commute to work is definitely getting easier. This could be for a couple of reasons
a) 4+-wheeled motorists are getting the message to look out for bikes (ShineySideUp campaign fronted by John Reynolds - lives near me, you know!)
b) my recent IAM training is making me a more responsible and smoother, patient rider
Hopefully its b), but a) definitely has its place.
However, there was one moment of indiscretion - the other night on the way home I was confronted by the Owner Of The Whole Damn Road switching to the outside lane as I approached whilst filtering (at a reasonable speed, honestly!), then when I was alongside him he wanted his share of the nearside lane again, even though I was near enough to chat to his passenger and had my air-horns sounding a retreat - regretfully, I resorted to violence and thumped the side of his car (yes, I was still that close) to gain his attention and then waved goodbye to him with just the odd finger or two...
I can't think of any other recent occasion where a rogue driver has caused a similar incident - still see people on the phone or texting while queueing in traffic, and general laziness in lane discipline, but I reason that because I've seen them doing this, I'm more aware than they are, and make an effort to get away from them.
Oh, and the rain has subsided now - time to lighten my mood!
