The pal, formerly known as (Covid-lockdown) '
bubble', invited me over for a meal at her place in Hebden Bridge this evening. It made a nice change to her coming over here to be fed and entertained.
After the meal, I set off on my bike to come home and was proceeding back through Hebden Bridge town centre at speed on the A646. There were cars parked along the opposite side of the road and there was a car coming the other way towards me, at the far end of the row of parked vehicles. At my end of the parked cars was one facing the wrong way for the traffic flow i.e. in the same direction as me. It's engine was running and I saw that the driver was creeping the car out to see if the road was clear for him...
It wasn't, because:
- There was a car driving towards him on that side of the road.
- I was rapidly approaching the space that he would need to pull out into.
So,
obviously, he would wait for the other car and me to pass...
Alternatively, he could floor the throttle and shoot out before the other car got there...
He chose lunacy!
As the front of his car was removing my road space I was swerving left towards the kerb and screaming
STOPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!! I will give the driver
some credit - having been completely unaware that I was there half a second previously, he did at least react quickly, slamming his brakes on and swerving back towards the parked vehicles...
I left him muttering "
SMIDSY!" and suffering the embarrassment of everyone in earshot staring at him, now stationary in the middle of the road.