Bicycle Rage

I will admit that in the past few years I've experienced road rage. Nothing too severe but enough to get my blood boiling and to let a few choice words out of my mouth. My mother would not approve. However, yesterday was the first time I experienced bicycle rage. I was driving down the street and I was passing a bicycle when my car went over a large slab of wood and I apparently didn't give the biker enough space when I passed. Did I hit him? No. Did I make him fall off his bike? No. I didn't even realize I was close to him until I had parked in my garage, was out of the car, and he was at the bottom of our driveway yelling at me.

I was so stunned that I said excuse me, because I was sure he was commenting on how nice our front yard was looking and not about my driving skills. It took me a few seconds to realize I was wrong and that he was truly angry and calling me an irresponsible driver that was going too fast down our road. Now, I may have not given him all the space he desired as I passed but I was certainly not going fast down our road. I was going 25, the speed limit. I am adamant about going the speed limit, or slower in neighborhoods. When I responded I explained that I was sorry but I was trying to not hit the slab of wood in the middle in the street as I passed. He got angry and told me next time to hit the wood instead of him. He peddled off in a huff thinking that I was in the wrong and how dare I!

What makes me mad is not that he yelled at me but how I handled it. I should have responded calmly and said, "Hi, my name is Amanda. I'm sorry but I didn't catch your name." That would have diffused the situation and we could have had an adult conversation. I could have said that I was sorry, I didn't realize I was so close to him when I passed and I am very careful on the street and I will be more aware of him in the future. When responding in a calm manner your thoughts are clear. You can process what is going on. When you start a conversation yelling at me, I don't know how to respond and when I do, it's too late.

I hope I run into him again. Not literally, because he might go off the deep end this time. But to introduce myself and have a real conversation with him. I know it's silly and I shouldn't let it bother me. But I try really hard to be careful in neighborhoods and I can't believe that every time this guy passes our house he'll think about the irresponsible girl that was too close to him on his bike!