To the cyclist who passed me on the way home,
How are you so fast? I've been riding and enjoying bikes for some time now, but I still have no explanation for what happened last evening. Before I go any further I need to let you know that I'm a triathlete, but you probably could have guessed that based on how I was riding. I know I don't really belong to any accepted group in the world, but my choice to be well rounded and mediocre across three areas is still no excuse for what happened last night.
We crossed paths when I was 35 minutes into my commute home from work and riding my new cyclocross bike, which until I met you, I thought was pretty damn fast. I've made several changes to my on the road riding in the past year - clipless pedals and skinny tires being the most notable. Because of these changes and the hours I spend training to be an "athlete" I consider myself a pretty worthy competitor.
In the 90 seconds before you calmly said, "on your left" I had decided that this flat, smooth, and traffic free stretch of pavement would be the perfect place to hammer with everything I had and see how fast I could possibly go on a bike. I was in the biggest gear, I was laying down low in the drops, my heart was about to explode, my legs were on fire, and I had about 30 seconds left at this rate until I wouldn't be able to take it anymore. It was at this moment that you so kindly informed me that you would like to pass with a, "on your left" call.
Now, maybe you had been drafting off of me enjoying some recovery time, injected some oxygenated blood, eaten a gu, and washed it down with a nice sip of water. None of that is an explanation for how you were able to overtake me and pedal off into the distance and completely out of sight before the next light. I'm a competitive SOB and I would have loved nothing more than to turn on the afterburners and show you what was what, but I was seconds from falling over from exhaustion as it was and couldn't even muster the strength to think about chasing you.
So, thank you for ruining my self esteem for the day and any dreams I may have had about the quality of my ride and the level of my fitness. If you happen to come across this and feel like sharing how the hell you got to be so fast I'd appreciate it.
Sincerely,
XTERRA29er
2 comments:
Perhaps you need a road bike to go that fast. -Brooks
HAHAHA awww. Whenever that happens, I just tell myself, "That guy has NO IDEA what kind of workout I did yesterday!" (Or the day before...or the weekend before...whatever might've taken the fight out of me :)
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