I Shouldn't Have Been Staring

I was biking on Metzerott, heading away from UMD. It was Friday afternoon. I was in black bike tights, an orange bike jacket, a white helmet, and cheap sunglasses. I was stopped at the intersection of Metzerott and Adelphi. Right here, to be exact:

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I was stopped at the red light, standing over my bike's frame. I could see that the crosstraffic was getting a yellow light, so I half-sat and got ready to go.

From the right, a guy on a bike zipped across all of the lanes without looking. He pedaled fast--the wheels looked small. He was black, he had a red knit cap on, and he was talking to himself. He didn't bother going over to the right side. He headed without hesitation into shoulder of the lane of oncoming traffic. Like this:


I watched him do this with a look of absolute perplexity on my face. He was talking rather loudly, which was another reason why I was looking at him. As he came closer, I heard what he was saying.

"F*** you, n*****."

When he passed me, I saw him looking at me as he said it again: "F*** you, n*****." Behind me, I heard him saying other things, but I got on my bike and began to cross. I left him to deal with the shoulder ice and the oncoming traffic alone.