A Perfect Commute

I am not sure if I have ever had this happen before. My commute home was perfect. I am not talking about the weather, or the wind, which were a little to warm and a little to strong respectively. I am talking about the cars.

Commuting back and forth to downtown Salt Lake City it seems like every day I have to deal with one or more of the following:

• Getting "buzzed" or squeezed to the shoulder.
• Cars double parked, or parked in the bike lane.
• Getting honked at or yelled at in the areas where I have to take the lane.

Just basically the typical commuting stuff. It bothered me when I started, but I basically ignore it. But today was perfect. Even on the rural road where I have to ride in the lane for about a mile I was given a wide berth by all the motorists. It was amazing.

Maybe it was the jersey. My wife gave me a Discovery Team jersey for christmas. Sure, it's a little uncomfortable wearing it as I putz along at 15-18 mph on my loaded touring bike. I know I got some double-takes. But as I got close to home I started to wonder, "Are the cars giving me more room because they recognize Lance's jersey?"

There is no way to really test for the Lance effect on my commute, but it is an interesting thought.