A guy in the parking lot asked why I ride in the door zone, and I moved my whole route over one block
I used to ride down Grand Ave every morning because it shaved about 4 minutes off my commute, right along the parked cars. Last Tuesday a guy locking up his bike at the rack near my office asked me why I hug the door zone when there is a quiet street one block north. He did not say it mean, he just pointed at my handlebars and said "you are about a door's width from a bad morning." I tried his way the next day and it only added 90 seconds, plus I hit two fewer lights. Now I take the side street past the library and the school, and I get to work way less wound up. Has anyone else redrawn a route after a stranger pointed something out, or am I the last one to figure this out?
My wife has been telling me for years that my sense of direction is so bad I could get lost in my own driveway, so a random guy pointing out a better route is pretty much my only hope at this point. The thing you said about being a door's width from a bad morning really stuck with me, because that is the part nobody thinks about until it happens. Trading four minutes for ninety seconds and two fewer lights sounds like a win no matter how you slice it. I bet most folks keep riding the same way just out of habit and never question it. It is wild how a small nudge from a stranger can change your whole morning mood.