That's more like it

Thankfully the rain from last night had moved on by early morning, so the sky was dry and the roads were, too. I shuttled the kids off to school and scrambled to get my gear together.

I started off slow, befitting of the colder weather, and tried to ease into the ride. First bike I spotted was going the opposite way. I glanced over not sure if the guy saw me. Sure enough, he looked up and gave me a wave. I waved back. See now? That was nice. I immediately felt like this was going to be a good ride.

Half-way point and I could see someone in the distance ahead of me. I could tell I was going to catch them...in time. I could see this rider was in plain clothes, jeans and a coat, and he was wrestling with keeping his messenger bag in place on his back. As I approached, a few feet away now, I cupped one hand toward my mouth and yelled out, "On your left!" I then extended a "Good morning!" as I passed next to the other rider. He provided an appropriate response - I can't remember exactly what he said. After what happened last week, I told myself I should take no satisfaction in passing up that guy.

And it was good that I didn't because just a bit later, someone alerted me to their presence behind me. They also greeted me as they passed, so I couldn't be mad at that. And wouldn't you know, I think it was the same guy that I had first spotted earlier in my ride. He had turned around and passed me on the way back! He was riding a nice Cervélo bike that probably costs three or four times my bike, so I really shouldn't feel too bad.

On the way home, I passed the same gentleman that I saw last week. I greeted him again and went on with my ride. Overall, I'm happy with the commute today because of the brief interactions I shared.

I'll probably stop ranting about whether people say hi to me or not.