Never The Same River Twice

What I love most about Miami is that you never drive the same road twice; the traffic is always shifting , always flowing. I never have the same experience on the wild roads that are in Miami and Doral, so many things temper the course. Holidays, rush hour, school dismissals and the ever present road construction all play into a dynamic and terrifying commuting experience. I have noticed many a thing while playing road outcast in the south of the sunshine state.

Pretty much most of Miami's response

There seems to be a sweet spot in the traffic, at least its flow, where I feel most safe. But there are some sections with just the right combination of elements that I feel the most threatened. Let us say there are 4 types of traffic: Empty, Light, Medium and Heavy. Empty is a good road to be on; no cars and, if there are any, very intermittent and they usually give you a wide berth when passing, which is awesome and always appreciated. In Empty traffic, I can move the bike at a comfortable level and I do not feel the need to push myself that hard for the most part.

So happy!

Light traffic and Medium traffic are the diciest ones for me. Most of the "Almost Hit" Series is me in this kind of traffic. With more cars all vying for space, trying to aggressively one up each other, and swerving around, this traffic makes me feel like I am in a giant coffee grinder. I am not even exaggerating. Miami is one of the worst cities with the worst driving etiquette ever. So aggressive and so pointlessly antagonistic.

We gotz to stop at the red light first....

By far, the best traffic is Heavy traffic. All the cars are stopped, or moving slowly, and they have little to no room to out maneuver each other. They are stuck, and are practically being herded by the lights like cattle. I honestly love this traffic because it brings me a slight schadenfreude when I filter past cars in parking lot conditions.

Past...or into...the point is, I'm faster!

Filtering is a bit of an art in urban cycling and one that I am still practicing. The law is actually a bit unclear on cyclist filtering in traffic, and, well, cycling laws in general here in Florida are unclear and vague. 

Like animals in cages...

Many of these traffic conditions are also important and play out in group rides as well. When you are hammering down in a tight group, the last thing a cyclist needs is an ignorant driver trying to squeeze past, pushing the group dangerously close to the curb. The driver needs to know that it is better to wait a bit instead of having a squad of cyclists under and over his hood.

Get it!

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