Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Wednesday
2:50 on my raptor emblazoned bicycle. Climbed Lookout Mountain and part of Golden Gate Road then part of Blue Mountain on the dirt mud. I was waved at a lot by other riders. How sweet ( I raised my voice in my head as I typed that and in order to get the meant effect you should raise it in your head as you read it). Afterward I tried to wave at a guy in a Honda Accord, like mine, and he gave me a dirty look. What a la borsetta portaccessori. Since I am riding Campagnolo now all of these Italian words are starting to pop in to my head.
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11 comments:
haha, dude have you been watching "Breaking Away"? The Italians are coming! The Italians are coming!
No joke, I waved at a guy while out riding today (he was riding a bike but def NOT a cyclist-had a plastic bag covering his saddle) and he gave me the finger. Pretty sure that was the coolest part of my day:).
Ha! Awesome. He gave you the finger... how funny really. For waving at him, he flipped you off. That's one angry dude. And I agree, that would have made my day.
I'll be up there dragging behind you soon! I've wasted the first two hours of work this morning surfing the web for cycling related material. Should have my bike by Monday and already have my cycling clothes laid out.
My friend carries a handgun in S. Carolina when he rides.
If you need any cycling stuff let me know. I have boxes of clothing from being sponsored by Hind (awesome stuff) and Descente.
I would get in to trouble carrying a gun.
Gee, I thought my tight fitting optic yellow 1991 jersey and bellweather shorts would look hot!
Yes, I'd be in jail if I carried a gun or baseball bat.
There's a strange dynamic going on between some trail and road users, which I've started thinking of as "use-ism" (following "racism").
The idea being that sometimes similar types of users greet each other, and view other types with suspicion. Dog owners talk to dog owners, bikers wave to bikers (this may be further divided into road/mountain), runners to runners. This isn't always the case, but it happens.
What got me thinking about this was that on my last Sunday on the Barr Trail this summer, I was fast-hiking up the Ws and about 50 runners bombed downhill like I wasn't even on the trail, practically brushing me out of the way even though we barely had room to pass each other. Not a word. No yield to uphill traffic, even families with kids. Sorry dudes, I don't care if you're trying to PR on your (illegally-trespassing) run up the Incline steps, you need to act cool.
THEN I started running at the top of the Ws and all of a sudden they started saying hello and waving. ??
Not cool.
I was riding out by Carter Lake by myself and a giant, beat up monster truck sticks his passenger side mirror in my ear (almost!) and the guy guns his engine to scare me. I see him looking in the mirror for my reaction. I took my hand and slide it out toward the middle of the road... like give a brother some room, and he locks 'em up and slides sideways to a stop about 200 yards up. My adrenaline kicks in and I sprint towards the guy. About a second before I get to him I realize I'm a 160 lbs. guy wearing spandex and he's probably a redneck with a gun! I rode by and smiled, said "how's your day treating you?" and kept going. His female passenger looked mortified!
Tim- Optic yellow is the new black... and it's BRIGHT which always a plus.
mtnrunner- Not too surprising I guess. We are all mostly ego driven. "Good" runners seem to look down on joggers and walkers for some reason. I still believe that most anger starts out as fear and insecurity.
JP- Ahhhh yes. Carter Lake. I remember they had a 'share the road' sign with a cyclist image on it and someone first painted an X across it. When it was cleaned off then someone shot it with a shotgun. And I still remember a white Ford Ranger with license plate ending in GDX... if I ever see it again... it won't ever drive again after I'm done. I used to fantasize about retaliation on cars... but after my kids came along I no longer want to risk it. Every time we ride the roads we risk being taken from our family. No sense in adding more risk by possibly going to jail. It's tempting though.
The thing I try to remember when people are rude in any setting is that they spend their lives in that turmoil and are constantly suffering in a bad mood.
Then I just call them a fat, sweaty, hillbilly who was raped by his uncle (under my breath).
Anger starts as fear and insecurity??? ARE YOU ONE OF THEM GAYS?!?!?!1
/so much truth in your statement
//for those that don't know me, a smiley face emoticon is usually implied
I agree... leave the haters to wallow in their self loathing.
Dave- Ha!
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