Rolling on my grave

chills & (no) thrills

My daily commute is pretty straightforward but is not without its dangers to life and limb. There are times when I'm hyper-aware of potential accidents; while at other times, they never cross my mind. What really scares me, however, are those times when I miss a accident by the narrowest of margins ... without ever having been aware of it.

If that sounds like a contradiction, it isn't. There must be, statistically speaking, a significant number of potential accidents that could've happened but didn't. In a split-second the cager or pedestrian misses me or I miss them. Maybe somebody moves a bit slower or a bit faster. Perhaps one of us merely stops or turns and, blissfully ignorant, we all go on our merry way...

I started thinking about this on my morning commute yesterday. Several times ... at least ... I came very, very close to having an accident with various cagers. The really creepy thing, however, was the shivery feeling I got as if somebody had just stepped on my grave.

This feeling was particularly strong about 2 miles into my commute. A cager began to slowly back into the bike lane. His angle was so tight that his blindspot must've been huge. I slowed way down then passed by in a wide arc to his left. Looking back, I got the distinct impression he never realized I was there. Somebody stepped on my grave...

At the next major intersection, a female cager was crossing when the light turned red. Stuck, she crept along as if she could sneak across without blocking the oncoming traffic to her right. And I was part of that traffic. So again I slowed way down. Then I noticed she was animatedly talking on her phone, minimally aware of me or the approaching cagers. If I hadn't slowed down, she would've hit me. Somebody stepped on my grave...

Then I played hop-scotch with 2 trucks along the rest of my route. Not that trucks on Lincoln Ave are particularly rare; they use it a lot. It's one of the few major streets angling into the Loop from the northwest. It has a ton of bars needing beverage trucks as well. What made this different was the scale: 2 very large, very wide construction vehicles, a dump-truck and a cement mixer, bound for Old Town.

Although Lincoln is either bike-laned or -recommended (stenciled bike & chevrons instead of a dividing line) it gets pretty tight the closer you get to Wells St. The first time both trucks passed me they left about 2 1/2 feet between themselves and the parked cars to my right. The second time, it was a bit more. I got ahead several times but they always overtook me, rumbling and rattling the pavement. Somebody stepped on my grave...