After a miserable morning the sun came out a bit, giving a window for a quick run around the U District and north Green Lake.
I saw a fellow cyclist almost get nailed by what I like to call a “darter” — a driver who guns the engine to cross a busy street, only to discover whoa! There’s a bike in his path! Darters tend to be younger drivers, or busy professionals with Bluetooth earpieces and tinted glass in their BMWs. They are famous for T-boning cyclists. In this case the cyclist was headed north on 11th Ave. N.E. at N.E. 52nd St. It’s a one-way street so the cyclist was on the opposite side of the road from the darter, who screeched on his brakes, then continued to dart once the cyclist had passed. I yelled out at the guy, but he was half way up the hill by the time I got to the intersection. Yelling can be effective, but moreso in the summer when drivers are more likely to have their windows down.
In any case, be safe out there… The rest of the ride was uneventful, although I had a nice stop and chat at Gregg’s Greenlake Cycles with the crew. New stuff keeps coming in, we’ll update you as it arrives. Can Spring be only five days away? Here’s keeping fingers crossed April won’t be like last year, when it snowed on and off all month long.
i noticed an article about bicycle inventory levels on the front page with marty pluth of gregg’s cycles. business has been down and then up and it is very hard to tell how much inventory to stock at this point with the economy.
also, i hear ya on the ‘darters’ and yes, the type of car and stereotype does exist. granted it’s hard to be careful all the time, but you never can say it enough.