Apparently

I'm an anomaly as a bike commuter. I see it in the looks I get from motorists, cyclists, runners, joggers and walkers. They simply don't know what to do when they encounter me and my patience.

Unlike too many of my fellow bike commuters, I actually wait for a reasonable place to pass slower traffic. This morning I rolled at a nominal 12mph for a quarter mile behind a woman on a townie who was clearly doing the best she could until we cleared a particularly windy part of the trail then passed her when I had good sight lines for oncoming traffic. I could tell she was nervous, probably a combination of fearing that I would pass her at an inopportune moment and just that I was behind her.

Runners and walkers often respond to my "on your left" with "thank you." Is that announcement really so uncommon?

Perhaps more amazingly, I respect the 17 stop signs on my route through Alexandria. Yes, many of them are Idaho stops, but some are track stands. Most motorists look at me with confusion when I urge them to take their turn at the 4-way-stop, their expressions seeming to say "what? you're not going to damn near give me a heart attack by blowing through the stop sign assuming that I'll yield to you? Inconceivable."

I don't care when other commuters blow past me, just shake my head at them when I see them blow a stop sign then swerve to avoid getting hit by the car that has the right of way proceeding through the intersection. No doubt they think I'm a wuss for exercising care around cars. That's ok, I know they're morons. ;-)

I know that when I'm exercising patience waiting for a reasonable place to pass on the all too narrow MVT, and they're behind me and I'm slowing them down, they think unkind thoughts about me. That's ok too, as the feeling is mutual.

We simply don't understand each other. Many seem to be out to set a new personal best on their commute and display many of the same aggressive behaviors that auto drivers do. This annoys me because I'm cycling to work to get away from that behavior pattern. So I just don't get why others ride like that.

I'm sure they are equally stumped and unable to understand why I'm simply enjoying my commute. Then again, I don't know that they identify me as a commuter as I don't look like one - I ride a race bike, wear team kit and carry nothing beyond the stuff in my jersey pockets...no backpack, certainly no panniers (I don't own a bike with eyelets to support such things), so maybe they're really thinking, "stupid racer type doing warm up or cool down on my commute route...go somewhere else, get the f out of my way." Oh wait, there's that auto driver behavior again...

I'm happy to stay an anomaly, thank you very much. Perhaps there are some others out there like me, but I haven't noticed them as yet.