Week 40 - Day One: Crossing at Crosswalks

BIKE: Eastwood
TIME THERE: 23 min.
TIME BACK: 24 min.
WEATHER: overcast, wet, 5C, 15 km/hr crosswinds there; overcast, 11C, 6 km/hr tailwinds back.
WHAT I WORE: yoga pants, turtleneck, sweatshirt
NOTES:

There is one intersection I cross every day that is basically just a crosswalk across a main road. It's rare that I can approach the intersection and just keep going because there are no cars coming. Most of the time, I wait at the side of the road until cars stop for me to cross. However, because I have a bike with me (or because the drivers are just straight-up assholes), most of the time nobody stops unless I get off my bike and cautiously start walking into the intersection. When I'm partway through the lane the cars will finally stop for me, with some drivers wearing looks of exasperation as though I haven't the right to slow them down during their commute.

Today, I tried crossing this stretch of road without getting off my bike. This was a mistake. I know that when I approach a crosswalk and intend to cross it as a pedestrian, I technically should dismount and walk my bike across. But dismounting and remounting takes extra time, and I don't like wasting time if I don't have to! However, as I found out today, it's probably time worth spending, because if I thought drivers were hesitant to stop for a pedestrian trying to cross the crosswalk, they are downright hostile to cyclists who try to cross there.

On my way to work this morning, a woman driving a minivan came to a hard stop in front of me as I was crossing, then made some gesture with her arm that I can only assume meant something along the lines of "you're lucky I stopped for you, asshole!". On the way home from work, I had already slowly and cautiously made my way halfway through the intersection as cars continued to drive through it with their drivers glaring at me and (at least as I imagined it) shouting obscenities at me behind their windshields.

I muttered some unpleasantries to these drivers under my breath, but truth be told I knew that as much as they weren't exactly being polite, it was I who was in violation of a bylaw. I'm pretty sure this feeling of having done something wrong stuck with me throughout the day, because I was one grumpy lady all day today. I announced to my colleagues that I was having an "angry day" at lunch as I bitterly stuffed snap peas into my scowling mouth. When my last client of the day kept extending the session 10, 15, and 20 minutes beyond the typical ending time despite my continual efforts to wrap things up, I became aware of the way I was gripping my pen cap while I glared at her impatiently, which I have to say isn't the most therapeutic way to be with a client.

I'm hoping that tomorrow I'll behave a little nicer all around. And I think I'll start by following the rules and dismounting at the crosswalk, even if I lose some time to do so.