Spring means longer days, warmer and drier weather, and lots more bike commuters on the streets of SF. I find many of them squirrely and slow; I’m sure they find me fast and arrogant, especially downhill on the inbound route along the panhandle, through the Wiggle, and down 14th St. I ride faster than most, but I ride safely. There are occasions where my error of judgment inconveniences someone, but In twenty five years of bike commuting only two incidents have resulted in a crash; once me, once the other rider. That’s why you wear your helmet. Mostly it’s vice-versa; someone else’s’ error of judgment inconveniences me.
I ride with road bike etiquette in mind—hold your line, pass on the left, announce your presence, etc. I roll through stop signs if it would be my turn anyway, or if there is continuous curb to my right; otherwise I stop. I stop at red lights. While I have a lot of quibbles with any deviation from this orthodoxy (don’t get me started about blinkies), my main request is please, please learn to ride in a straight line. It’s a little tricky, but eminently doable.