My motivation for training outdoors slumps this time of year (same thing happened last year) due to the increase in highly aggressive and angry motorists during the month of December. I have no problems with the weather being cold, but I struggle with wanting to be on the roads. I've been told numerous times, "Don't let the drivers win. You have a right to be on the roads." Okay. That doesn't help me if I am hit by a car, because the car always wins. Though if I am not riding outdoors, there will be another five new cyclists to take my place and be a target for people who are angry about life in general. So I'll just keep riding outdoors and hope that someday, somehow, the 9 out of 10 drivers in Birmingham, AL who have no ethics, morals or character somehow find a way to develop at least one of those three virtues.

Two incidents this weekend:

I was buzzed by someone in a nice, new Ford sedan in Mountain Brook, and he stopped at the light in front of me, so I pulled up next to his car and asked him to roll down the window. He reluctantly did, but after I calmly (but nervously, as I had been scared to death) explained to him a safe distance between his car and my bike, he said, "You people need to get off the road" and rolled up the window. Black guy with his wife and kids in the car. Great way to teach your kids how to be an asshole.

Waiting on Lakeshore for the light to turn so I can turn left on Lakeshore and then immediately right onto a neighborhood road. It is about 30 feet I have to ride on Lakeshore, which I can do safely if the light stops traffic and I'm off the road before the stopped traffic catches up. Unless you are one of those drivers who feels that red lights are optional for you. This time: white guy driving a full size pickup. I stopped in the median before the guy went through the light. He slammed on his brakes when he saw us (he was only going to run the light if there was no traffic, even though there were other cars stopped in the other lane waiting). THEN he motioned me to come on over. HA HA. Like I am going to trust a mentally retarded idiot who should not be driving a motorized vehicle. Once the light turned and traffic went on (including Dumbbubba), I waited for a safe lull to cross the road and turn onto the side street. Since some of the worst accidents are caused by drivers who run red lights, I highly suggest stopping for them.

Then there was a point of light from the weekend: This sweet old black lady rolled down her window at a stop light and asked us where we were going, and then said, "Well thank the Lawd that you will be home safely!" So there's about one in a million who are actually nice.

This season turns me into a misanthropist. The driver/cyclist incidents are at an all-time high every December. Then I start mistrusting and disliking every stranger I come across because I suspect they all want to kill me, since most of them have already tried to.

And I have a hard time empathizing, because even on the worst day, I don't feel like killing anything. People take guns and kill deer and birds, or they play video games and kill fake things. But I've never had a bad day when I wanted to hurt a living thing, and I am not sure how anyone else could possibly want to do that. Cue the sixties. Give peace a chance.