Last night was my regular Thursday, Lake Chabot ride. This is a great weekly event with really fun people, a relaxed but decent pace and a great bbq afterwards….
Last night started out the same as always, the ten-hills section got the heart going and the legs warmed up…this is followed by a fun little downhill section which is then followed by the worst climb of the night. The Brandon trail is a little less than a mile and a little less than 1K of climbing….it’s always a tough climb with some good natured pace setting and competition in our group to keep it interesting…..
As we gathered at the gate and removed our jackets, you, the guy on the yellow bike wearing your full “race kit”, were there doing some sort of stretching, yoga-type thing. I, the old bald guy on the single speed, pulled up with our group and said “hey”. You, surprisingly, barely acknowledged me in that roadie, I’m so superior attitude, and then you took off. Now I don’t normally run into guys like you at Chabot. It’s not a famous race area, we’re all on mt bikes and usually the people I meet are pretty friendly…..Oh well, I figured, maybe you had a rough day….
A few minutes later I and my friends started off up the hill…..now, I want to say right up front, I did not in any way or with any maliciousness plan on catching you….after all, I don’t know you and you had already proven yourself less than friendly….
But, after a few turns Paul and I had caught up to you….the trail was wide, and we weren’t really hammering, I just assumed you were taking your time. So, as I came along side you, I, still trying to be pleasant, gave you the benefit of the doubt and made some comment about the crappy condition of the trail. You, again in a less than pleasant way, responded bluntly and immediately jumped on my wheel.
Ok, fine….I’ve ridden with roadies, I’ve run into and survived their ‘tude and if that’s the way you want to be, here we go….
Just so you know, I’m not usually a competitive person unless I’m riding with friends. If we’ve never met, or I don’t know you that well, and we ride together, I tend to hold back... I sandbag, if you will.
I’m sure it’s from some deep seated insecurity, but I don’t like to go all out for fear that at my hardest, you may just pass and pull away from me proving me inferior…..but last night was different.
To be completely honest, I’m not sure if it was your ‘tude or just left over bitterness from high school where I was routinely ignored by the cool kids, but I have to admit that, for the rest of that climb, I had pretty much decided I was going to die before I let you pass me again….oh sure, your bike had gears and you did have that ultra fast looking race kit thing going for you, but you don’t know me. Once I get it in my head that I’m going to do something, my Irish bull-headedness just won’t let go.
I do have to admit, I’m pretty sure I’ve never worked that hard going up Brandon. I have no idea what my time was, or what my heart rate was, but I can tell you, it took several minutes for my breathing to go back to normal once we got to the top of the hill and the bench.
The funny thing is, that at that point, I was actually thinking of thanking you for pushing me so hard as I really do appreciate the workout. I know for a fact that, had you not been there with your stupid yellow bike rolling on yellow tires and your roadie-snob attitude, I would have taken it much easier last night…..
But, in perfect, arrogant, lcyra-monkey form you just turned down the trail back to the campground without so much as a friendly wave goodbye…
So, to you, the guy on the yellow bike….thanks for a great workout and for forcing me to work much harder than I had planned last night….I hope you have a better day tomorrow and that your attitude isn't always that bad....
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