Dear bicyclist:
When there are no bike lanes, you and I are sharing the lane. That is the operative word: sharing.
When I am significantly ahead of you, have slowed down to make a right-hand turn into a parking lot, and am signalling my intention to do so, greatly speeding up to pass me on my right as I am making my turn is not only foolhardy but wrong. I don't care that you were trying to make the left turn light at the intersection.
I know, I had the audacity to actually be scanning for people slower than you: pedestrians, kids on bicycles, etc. Your responsibility was to slow down and wait for me to finish to finish my turn.
All your fancy gear -- the racing bike, the skin tight cycling outfit, the streamlined helmet design to mark you as a serious cyclist -- will not change the fact that you are an irresponsible idiot. Had you been a child you would have had an excuse (and I probably would have seen you better), but you looked close to thirty. I would have thought that all those years of experience in the world would have taught you common sense, but clearly I was wrong.*
Sincerely,
That lady you gave the nasty look to as you sped away.
*What galls me about all this is I do make a concerted effort to watch the roads for bicycles of all types, and am careful to give them enough space. The only thing that makes me crankier than things like this is when they run stop signs and red lights, which they do with some regularity -- especially the "serious" cyclists. Kids are much better about those.
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