The absurd reason drivers are at their absolute worst right now

So Uncle Matt went on a group ride today, and let me tell you, drivers were awfuller (my surly editor will love this btw) than normal.

It’s a civilized but fast group ride, where we ride a tight double or single paceline, stop at stop lights, stop at stop signs, and are generally respectful. But today, dear reader, it seemed like every driver took crazy pills.

In the first 1-2 kilometres, five cars close-passed us. And I mean close. We had a few horn blares, and there may have been an expletive about goddamn cyclists (they didn’t throw in ‘you should get a job;, btw I have one, hey!) but it was generally a stressful start to the ride.

I lost track, but as well as the close-passers, there were also the insane-passers. These are the cars that decide to pass a pack of cyclists at 100 km/h in a 60–I mean fair play, I guess, in crazytown?–but when there’s a CAR coming in the opposite direction. There was a guy with a TRAILER that swung violently when he just nipped back into the lane. There was a van driver that mistimed their timing so poorly that the car in the OPPOSITE DIRECTION had to stop and pull into the shoulder.

Just madness. I said to the rider beside me, “what the actual eff is going on today?”

His answer is the basis of this entire article.

Yes, it is entirely anecdotal and based on no stats or data. But you have to remember, I spent the entire afternoon tracking a flight on Friday that apparently had Shohei Ohtani, who was on the verge of signing with the Toronto Blue Jays, and ultimately did not. So fact-checking is simply not on the table. I buy into this narrative, sorry.

He said the reason drivers are worse than ever, is Christmas. People are rushing around, buying stuff, stressed, not allocating time to stuff, so they drive like maniacs.

When he told me this, my jaw dropped. Well, it could have also dropped as we suddenly were riding single file at 50 km/h, but nonetheless, it dropped.

So folks who hadn’t planned accordingly to rush to the mall, then decided to drive like idiots, endangering our lives, to buy a friggin’ tie, or Taylor Swift merch, (heyo, SEO).

That’s not right. You not planning ahead doesn’t mean you can make me or my fellow cyclists like we may die. The holidays are great, but please, don’t drive like an idiot.

Anywho, Merry Christmas to those who celebrate. (And please, please, please let Ohtani be a Blue Jay.)