The Bus Driver

On Monday, I had a New York moment with a bus driver. I typically worry when I’m riding near New York City buses. In general, I would say that bus drivers are worse drivers and more dangerous than New York City cabbies (now watch me get side swiped by a cab tomorrow) for cyclist, but today was different. I was riding back home from Central Park down the center lane on 5th Avenue (somewhere around 47th Street) at about 20mph and there’s a bus to my right. The bus driver (a women) sort of smiles, then she speeds up a bit, she looks over and then starts to wave me on - she’s challenging me to pick up the pace. Hah! Of course, being the competitive jerk that I am, I feel compelled to oblige. In response, she speeds up the bus even more… at this point, I just laugh; we were already at 42nd Street, I was about to make the left turn onto 40th, and why the heck was I in the middle of street racing a bus? It’s the little things that make your day.