In article <
[email protected]>,
[email protected] (AJRBJR) writes:
>>She could have gone, and not held-up traffic. But instead, she decided to stop for me, and hold up
>>traffic,
>
> This usually works for me in this situation when I would rather they just go. I look down and fool
> with my computer or pretend I am gonna fool with something on my bike or get some water etc. I
> don't eyball them and they just figure I'm gonna stay there for a bit and they just take off.
Heh. I agree, it's sometimes best to play 'em close to the chest, rather than constantly doing the
eye contact and communication thing. Sometimes it's best not to tip one's hand too soon.
At the time, I was stopped somewhat ahead of the stop line so I could see what was coming, around a
line of parked car on the cross street at my left. A sight-line issue.
Trouble is, rolling up ahead of the stop line and poking up closer to the crossing traffic also can
indicate an impatient determination on one's part to go, and I guess that's how the postie took it.
Meanwhile, although I was well up toward the left of my "lane" (on a wide but unstriped street) so
as to let right-turners behind me go by, and to indicate I was going straight through on this skewed
intersection, the right-turner who had just hauled up behind me, was chickening out of coming up
alongside me to make his turn.
So I detached from the pedal and side-stepped me & my bike even more leftward, and rolled back a bit
to invite the right-turner behind me to also get a clear view of the side traffic; when I looked up,
the postie was yelling at me about my not paying attention to her stopping. I yelled back to her
something like, "I'm the one with the stop sign, sister!" But by then, *everybody* in all directions
was stopping. So I just went.
Maybe I should've just mooned her as I rode past.
In this city, it's often easy to create a break in cross traffic at non-traffic-light intersections
by skoogying ahead of the stop line (taking heads-up care, of course, so as to not get run over by
traffic coming from various directions).
Once in awhile, it works against ya. Or rather, works against everybody. It's a tactic best
not abused.
But sometimes, bad sight-lines force one into expressing ambiguous "road English".
Southbound Ontario & 16th isn't the worst intersection in town, but it might be one of the
screwiest.
cheers, Tom
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