[Angry Commuter]

@pfunkallstar 42616 wrote:

You: Friend (but-you-don’t-know-it) on the blue road bike with white shirt
Me: The guy in the orange jacket absentmindedly drafting you after the Corkscrew of Doom

Sorry. I really am sorry that I drafted you. I didn’t mean anything by it, I got a new job today and was just pedaling along thinking about lots of other stuff, I should have been paying more attention. That was my fault, apologies.

I would have happily passed you, but your furious F-bombs-of-fury made me want to at least ask “How are you doing?” I don’t think your are a “stuck up asshole” as you said, rather, I think you are a guy who needs a friend, ear, and good ride.

I hope the rest of your ride went well, like I said, I hope civility wins out.

Keep on trucking…as if you would ever stop trucking

BEST!

PFUNKALLSTAR

One year of bike commuting and two months of browsing this forum, and I now find myself featured in a missed connection. Somehow I thought it would be different, but there you are. Alright then sir, allow me to reply:

Me: Blue bike white shirt guy.
You: The person I just passed on a dark and winding stretch of the Custis, who then silently turned it on and affixed himself to my back wheel.

Yes, I unleashed an f-bomb or three. Why? Well I have never gone fast enough to attract a drafter, and I was caught off-guard. After I realized you weren’t there by accident, I assumed you were passive-aggressively expressing your displeasure at an etiquette infraction I must have committed when I passed. (Did I forget to call out my pass? I try to be respectful, but it happens.) But then I thought maybe you just decided that I had too much room to maneuver around pedestrians, potholes, branches, etc., a problem which you took upon yourself to fix my silently ghosting along six inches behind me. As I said last night after I asked you if you wanted to pass, most unfortunately with the help of a profane adjective, your riding was rude, dangerous and just a little creepy. You say you were sorry, which is kind of you despite your qualifications. How does one “absentmindedly” draft someone? I say I overreacted: crude language solves nothing. Let’s just leave it at that.

I do not need a friend; I just need to get home safely. If, however, you are lonely, might I suggest you give JNVA a call? I won’t cop to his identification (I’ve only thrown one hissy fit this year) but it sounds like you and he have a lot in common.

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