I believe a little background into my commute is necessary to set the "scene" for those readers that are new to my blog. I have recently taken residence in Huntington Beach. I do a one way commute on my bike on Tuesday evening Nortbound, Wednesday morning Southbound, Thursday evening Northbound and Friday morning Southbound. Every other Friday I will do both South and North bound commutes. The reason for the one way commutes is I have my son on Monday, Wed nights and every other weekend.
The commute is 65 miles and about 1.5 hours of the morning commute is in the dark and about 3 hours of the evening commute is in the dark. Northbound commute avgs 3.5 hours to 4 hours depending on headwinds and traffic-- it IS during rush hours. And Southbound is between 3.5 hours to 3 hours and 45 mins. As you can see riding at night and predawn can lead to some interesting stories.
Soooo this morning I am 2.5 miles into my commute and it is approx. 5:15 am and I see another cyclist. We go through the same intersection and I pass him as we turn left onto PCH. We later come up to the same stoplight and I ask:
Me: "Mornin' where you headed?"
Joel: "That way" (as he points South with his right arm and then sprints off)
So I think what a jerk and go back to doing my own thing. I had specific goals for my training today and figured I'm not going to chase him I've got my own thing to do.
But he sat up and slowed down and there he is again.
Me: "So where you headed?"
Joel: "McArthur" (I didn't hear him until the third time I asked)
At this point I noticed he seemed agitated almost angry so I said:
Me: "Dude... lighten up it's a beautiful morning and we're on our bikes"
Joel: "F' off (and some other stuff not safe for children reading this blog)
So I wonder what set him off. Why would another rider who apparently has the same degree of motivation as me act so obtuse (Shawshank Redemption). Let's see how many things we had in common:
1. We are cyclists
2. It was predawn and we were on our bikes
3. We both went to bed last night looking forward to riding before work.
4. We both must be pretty serious about our training to be out predawn
5. We both must have really busy schedule with family and work
just to name a few of our similarities. So where did it go wrong? Maybe it wasn't wise of me to try to make a friend and I should have just put my headphones on and let him approach me if it was meant to be.
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my mountain is waiting
11 years ago
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Hey George.. Glad to see the Blog Entries back up and running.. I haven't quite come down off of my 508 buzz; so I still surf everything 508.. Your new commute buddy reminds me of a number or "aquaintances" that I've made on training rides.. Some riders are not very friendly when I catch them from behind.. Most riders are quite friendly when they catch me from behind.. For me, since I get caught quite often, I make plenty of friends.. Remind me again how you blew the doors off of my support van on the way into twentynine palms..!
ReplyDeleteLater..
Thrasher..
Thrasher thanks for checking in. I did nothing for weeks after 508 so is that a non buzz? So I had to get my butt in gear and start riding again.
ReplyDeleteAhhhh! That makes sense he might have been bitter that I caught him and passed him. Well I'm sure I will see him again. I'll just wave and be on my way.