Considerate coughing

Dear Miss Spoke:  Is is OK to hock a loogie on the bike path?

-Phlegmy in Philadelphia



Dear Phlegmy:  Of course it's OK!  This is Miss Spoke, not Miss Manners.  You are engaging in a sporting activity in the outdoors - hock away!  But, you may want to check your immediate vicinity before you do - and please hock to the right.  There may be an innocent biker passing on the left just as you let fly.  Unfortunately, Miss Spoke is speaking from experience...

-Miss Spoke

Precarious Passing

Dear Miss Spoke:  I'm an avid bike commuter and tend to be faster than other folks on the path.  If I have one slow biker passing an even slower biker ahead of me on the path, is it OK to "thread the needle" between them?  I would make sure not to startle them by signaling my intentions in any way. 

-Impatient in Illinois

P.S. - my momentum is very important to me


Dear Impatient:  I see where you're coming from with the momentum, but let me ask you this - is your momentum more important to you than your current facial features, or a full set of teeth?  Even if your answer to this question is yes, most likely your fellow bikers would disagree.  Your momentum is really not worth much to them at all.  So, even if you manage not to cause a gnarly crash, you might still end up losing those teeth.  The next time you find yourself in that situation, I'd suggest that you take a deep breath and slow down for a moment until the coast is clear.  Feel free to mutter something under your breath as you go by if it makes you feel better (after all, you know you can outrun them). 

-Miss Spoke