So, I'm on the way home riding along Hall of Fame Avenue (eastbound) stopped at the traffic light at N. Main St (Map of Fun). When I ride, I ride on the street as opposed to sidewalks when they are available. While waiting for the light to turn green a college kid (ck) rode up beside me, but on the sidewalk. He started some small talk:
The light turns green and CK is in a higher gear, so each rotation of the pedals for him is better speed. I, on the other hand, am in a lower gear so I can get going without a bunch of effort. CK starts pulling away from me a little and jumps off the curb and into the street in front of me. we both are going through the gears, but I have 24 to his 18. I caught up with him at the railroad tracks (about 2/3 distance to Perkins)
I jacked up to 24th gear and, with the same pedal cadence, pulled away from CK enough to show him "who's boss" ;-)
At the light I told him "good race" to which he agreed and then I gave him one of my personal business cards which has all of my biking information about the Amputees Across America ride from July (past posts 1, 2, 3 and 4). While talking with CK, I made sure to control my breathing, so my "out-of-shapeness" didn't show. After CK turned south on Perkins, I started sucking wind like the 41 year old I am. A guy in a pick-up next to me rolled down his window, said "nice race" and asked if I wanted to throw my bike in the back and get a ride. I told him that I was a short distance from home, so no thanks.
I was still sucking wind so bad when I got home that Renee thought something was wrong. When I told her about the race, she said the only thing wrong was me trying to act like a 20 year old!
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