Riding home last night was actually the “main event” in terms of effort; for some reason, everything seemed to click. I was on my bike, Kevin and Becky were in Becky’s car, both of us heading across El Camino. I remembered something from Kevin’s (bicycle) track sessions some years ago- at intersections, try to sprint across faster than the cars. Good way to practice sprinting. So I did, beating Kevin & Becky, but instead of easing off, it felt good so I just kept on going. One of my fastest solo efforts on the flat part of Jefferson, maybe ever. And when the road tilted up (Altamont) I still felt good, I still kept pushing. I never got that feeling that something was about to blow, and nothing ever did. Maybe it home in 11 minutes, 59 seconds. That was an honest time, too; I didn’t stop the garmin until I had a foot on the ground outside my garage.
This morning’s ride up Kings was quite different; Kevin’s knee was still bothering him, so we took it pretty easy, and sacrificed the West Old LaHonda section entirely. Too bad; we had a nice group, with Kevin, Kevin, Karen & even George showed up today!
As for the photo above, that’s from tonight’s ride home, heading across El Camino. I wasn’t sprinting across the intersection, but the car certainly was. Why it was so important to the car to fly through there and put the squeeze on me I don’t know. It wasn’t dangerous, just really annoying, and certainly a flagrant violation of the 3-foot passing law. You can, by the way, pass a cyclist closer than 3 feet, but not at full speed. Here’s what the law says about that-
(d) If the driver of a motor vehicle is unable to comply with subdivision (c), due to traffic or roadway conditions, the driver shall slow to a speed that is reasonable and prudent, and may pass only when doing so would not endanger the safety of the operator of the bicycle, taking into account the size and speed of the motor vehicle and bicycle, traffic conditions, weather, visibility, and surface and width of the highway.
Clearly, a car speeding to pass a cyclist is in violation of the law.
