How fast is that cyclist going?

A recent post on the most excellent Commute Orlando blog got me to thinking about riding pace during my commuting.

My average speed during my commute varies in the twelve-to-fifteen-miles-an-hour range. One big factor is wind--I often have headwinds slow me down or tailwinds that help me move faster. I have to stop for traffic lights, which affects my overall time AND my average speed.

And regardless of my overall average speed, it takes within ten minutes of the same amount of time to get to work. If I assume that it will take me an hour, and enjoy extra loafing time I earn by going faster due to a tailwind, that's fine.

One thing about my speed, though: regardless of how fast I'm going, I'm never going to go fast enough to suit some motorists. To their way of thinking, anyone not going a little faster than they are is in the way--period.

I remember feeling that way as a motorist, myself. I still get that way at times when I know the road ahead to be clear, but some motorist is idling along at ten under the speed limit. I mean, if you don't want to go as fast as you legally are allowed, why drive at all? Why not ride a bike instead? Seriously, though, what I find most frustrating is motorists who are not paying attention to the road around them. I get that we as humans tend to act in our perceived best interests, but ignoring other traffic seems to be anathematic to that concept.

I am, not surprisingly, far more tolerant of bicyclists than many motorists when I'm in my car. I will often intentionally hold other traffic back rather than allow a motorist behind me to pass a cyclist in a dangerous manner.

I can go twelve, or eighteen, miles an hour, and the motorist behind me doesn't know the difference. His speedometer is not but so accurate, and differentiating those two speeds is hard to do for most folks. I could be going five miles an hour for all he knows, and he seems to think that's all I'm doing judging from how much longer it takes to pass me than he allows. If the motorist coming the other way has to swerve, slam on her brakes, flash her headlights or honk at you for passing me, you really needed to wait a bit and pass when it's safer to do so. You don't need to honk your horn at me, either. I know you are there. I know that having to actually think about getting past me interrupts your iPhone text messaging session or your daydream, and that having to think angers you.

Yeah, you are angry about having to think instead of being able to dreamily go on your way, blithely ignorant of the damage you can cause. I'm angry too, though. I'm angry that so many motorists are so willfully ignorant of the problems they cause by not paying attention to their driving.