And this turned into a teachable moment!

I had a couple of bikes in my garage so that I could do some maintenance work on them, and had to take them back to their owners. I loaded them onto my Bikes at Work trailer, connected the trailer to the Big Dummy, and hauled away to the other side of Saint Matthews.

As I rode home, I saw a BUNCH of club riders heading for the Tuesday evening club ride that leaves from the Burdorf's parking lot off St Matthews Avenue. I had some friendly interactions with a couple, and cordial interactions with a few more.

As I passed the lot where the ride starts, a few riders were leaving early. I passed one fellow, as he was riding slowly so his riding partners could catch him, then we approached the stop sign at Westport Road.

I must admit that my mind was on the other traffic in the intersection--there was a motorist who had approached the stop sign from the west, and who would have priority over me when it was time to transit the intersection (she reached the stop sign before I did). She, in turn, was waiting for a safe opportunity to go, as there was another motorist approaching from the east, and that motorist does NOT have a stop sign.

I was busy watching all this, and didn't realize that the cyclist I had passed had come up beside me on my right, in what was something of a blind spot, given that my attention was on other road users entering the intersection. When it was my turn to proceed, there was some confusion over who was going which way (he was apparently planning to go north on St Matthews Avenue, which involves a right jog before turning left to cross the railroad track, and I planned to go east on Westport Road--see this map (http://goo.gl/maps/JTh4G) to help envision this, and be mindful that my cardinal directions are approximate).

We managed to sort things out without unpleasant outcomes, or ugly words, but the teacher in me found it impossible to not think about what we--myself included--can learn from what could have happened. Since I was pulling my long trailer at the time, I of course was reminded of this excellent blog post from Commute Orlando's Keri Caffery (http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/2008/11/30/what-cyclists-need-to-know-about-trucks/).

As I am not sure whether my trailer was ever in front of this other cyclist, I could not be angry at him. I would like to think I passed him far enough in advance of the stop sign that I was clear of him, but I never did check my mirror or do a shoulder check to verify that I was past him. Prior to that, I should have made sure I could make a complete pass before reaching the stop sign, or if not, should not have passed him--just as one would do if operating a car properly. Because my focus was on other motorists IN the intersection, whose transit through the intersection had priority over my own, I wasn't watching him. Because my focus was on other road users, I did not have my right arm extended as a right turn signal.

On the other hand, in the time I was watching others, while stopped at the stop sign, he could easily have gotten from well behind me to beside me.

Had I been in his situation, I like to think I would have held back, to see which direction the cyclist pulling the trailer was going to go. I learned that concept many years ago, watching drivers of large trucks turn very wide to make right turns, so that the trailer wheels would clear the curb at the corner (or stay out of the drainage ditch, or in general stay on the pavement). There is a reason for the signs seen on the rear of big box trailers advising against passing on the right!

The lesson, for me, is a reinforcement of something I already knew: We can only track so much information intake at a given time.

For me as "riding in his shoes," the lesson also included "stay out of the blind spot of a road user pulling a trailer." That road user is already tracking a fair bit of other stuff in front of him or her, and approaching in a blind spot can lead to big problems. It's also a reminder that "filtering," or riding up the right side of vehicles stopped for a traffic control device such as a stop sign or traffic light, is a bad idea.

It is our mutual responsibility to avoid crashes. If other road users make minor errors, we need to be able to compensate.