Mini-conversations at the stoplight during the bicycle commute

When the weather gets cold and wet and the sun sets hours before the evening commute even begins, the people you meet at the stoplight are the serious bicycle commuters, the fair-weather cyclists having long since packed up their gear, not to be dusted off until springtime. But regardless of the season, the conversations at the stoplights tend to be rather perfunctory because you’re probably going to be there for less than a minute. Here’s a stoplight conversation I had earlier this week:

“Hey there.”

“Warm night.”

“Yeah, I was expecting rain.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll get another chance tomorrow.”