This morning, I was driving my normal route to work.

The speed limit is pretty consistently 40 mph until I hit the highway. In a 40, I always drive 50.

(10 over is pretty much my rule, unless it’s a 25 mph zone. Then it’s 5-7 mph over the speed limit.)

Today, I was pretty much alone on the road. There was one car about 200 yards ahead of me, and then I noticed one coming up from behind me. As I was going 50, he must have been going at least 55-60 mph.

As he passed me, he started to catch up on the driver who was in front of me. This made the driver in front of me speed up.

Naturally, as they both sped up, I did the same to keep pace, figuring that they were both police trap fodder way before I would be.

When the second guy finally caught up with the person who was already in front of me, they both slowed down to under 50 and drove next to each other. They were still the only cars on the road besides me.

Only now, while they were both originally speeding, they were just driving like assholes and getting in my way.

I sat behind them for a moment trying to see if one would break off, but after about 25 yards, I concluded I didn’t want to be involved in whatever it was they were doing. So I jumped into the bus lane, passed them up, and never saw them again as they disappeared behind me.

Getting somewhere quickly isn’t just about speeding. It’s also about consistency, reading the road, anticipating the drivers around you, and having solid spatial relations.

I don’t know if these two knew each other or what was going on, but it turned out getting somewhere quickly was pretty far down their agenda.