Here's to Cups, Cars and a Near Collision

For the final day of my sister Kim’s visit, I told her I’d take her to the beach. And technically, I did. (That's her above, in my first photo posted via Windows Vista.)

We both worked the third of five aid stations during the San Diego Track Club’s 16-mile train run. And we both had a blast despite deep cloud cover and chilly temps. Our stop was 9 miles into the course at the southern tip of Carlsbad State Beach. I’ve written before about running this; it’s truly an event and this morning no less than three big running clubs were out there training along the same course. It made for some congestion and flare-ups between runners and cyclists and motorists.

I ended up taking two injured runners back to home base in Solana Beach, cutting off two cyclists in Encinitas when I turned right at a green light and they apparently intended to head straight. They were forced to turn right with me. I’m still baffled who had the right of way. From their dirty looks, I thought it might be them; from my traveling companions, it appears to be me. I’m really bothered by it hours later, so any guidance from you cycling folks would be most appreciated. Keep in mind that in San Diego, at least, right-turning cars are supposed to merge into the bike lane the last 200 yards before turning -- it's a dotted line then and perfectly legal. I actually stayed out of the lines because I knew those guys were closing in, but I still came very close to clipping them unintentionally.