TIME THERE: 26 min.
TIME BACK: 26 min.
WEATHER: clear, -4C, 9km/hr wind there; overcast, 4C, 13km/hr wind back.
WHAT I WORE: yoga pants, t-shirt, waterproof shell, scarf, running gloves (scarf in panniers on the way home)
NOTES:
The Pace Setter
Passing through Oliver, the neighbourhood on the north side of the river valley and directly opposite the university on the south side, I crossed paths with a fellow cyclist. He was on a mountain bike with tires that are not as wide or knobby as Eastwood's, but are most certainly more serious than my 700c road bike tires on Mike. We met at a four-way stop - I was going straight through the intersection heading east, and he was turning left from the north so that he ended up directly in front of me heading east.
I've mentioned before that I have a bit of a competitive spirit, so it should come as no surprise to anyone that having this fellow in front of me the rest of the way to work became a personal challenge for me to overtake this guy. Within a couple of blocks of crossing paths, his early lead on me closed in and I was just about ready to pull up beside him, when we came to another stop sign. He came to a full stop even though there were no cars there, and I realized I was dealing with someone who follows the rules (I would slow down and look in all directions, but if there were no cars around I would definitely not stop - because I'm a rebel). I pulled up behind him at the stop sign, almost running into his back tire from his unexpected stop, and in the time it took me to recover from that awkwardness he was quickly pulling ahead with a spreading lead over me. Oh, that is it, my friend, you're going down!
I pushed myself to try to catch him as we wound through the side streets of Oliver, heading closer and closer to the beautiful steel bridge that would take us across the river valley. When I got close to the guy again, we came across another stop sign and I had to wait for a car to go past while Pace Setter McGoo in front of me got there right before the car did. While I waited for the car to pass me, Pace Setter's lead widened.
We got to the trails skirting the north bank of the river valley and I pushed as hard as I could to catch up to the guy, though somehow his lead kept widening. Going over the High Level Bridge, I saw him pull farther and farther ahead. How is he doing that?? I have a faster bike than him, and he's still managing to out-pace me! Am I really that out of shape? Am I really that terrible a cyclist??
I managed to get closer to him going up the hill on the south side of the bridge, but I lost any gains I made from the hill when I dismounted and carried the bike up the stairs. Those stairs always get me - I die a little bit every time I go up them, whether I'm taking light-as-air Mike or sack-of-potatoes Eastwood. Getting back on the bike at the top of the stairs, I huffed and puffed my way back up to a decent pace while I delighted in seeing Pace Setter stopped just ahead, waiting for a car to pass at an intersection. Hahaha, he's MINE now!!
I spent the two blocks leading through East Campus Village catching up to Pace Setter and finally caught up to him - yessss!!!! - as we passed through a parking lot on the east end of campus. As I passed him, I turned to him and managed to say, "Good morning!" without puking from the effort. He nodded and returned the sentiment, and as our eyes locked I realized with deep, crimson-faced shame that the person I've been dogging for the past three kilometres is a boy! He looked like he was hardly eighteen, maybe a first-year student, and I suddenly felt ridiculous. I pulled away from him, chastizing myself for having gotten so competitive with a fresh-faced teenager, and though I could hear his tires squeaking away behind me at times, he never did overtake me again.
I won. Against a boy. My God, I need to grow up.
I've mentioned before that I have a bit of a competitive spirit, so it should come as no surprise to anyone that having this fellow in front of me the rest of the way to work became a personal challenge for me to overtake this guy. Within a couple of blocks of crossing paths, his early lead on me closed in and I was just about ready to pull up beside him, when we came to another stop sign. He came to a full stop even though there were no cars there, and I realized I was dealing with someone who follows the rules (I would slow down and look in all directions, but if there were no cars around I would definitely not stop - because I'm a rebel). I pulled up behind him at the stop sign, almost running into his back tire from his unexpected stop, and in the time it took me to recover from that awkwardness he was quickly pulling ahead with a spreading lead over me. Oh, that is it, my friend, you're going down!
I pushed myself to try to catch him as we wound through the side streets of Oliver, heading closer and closer to the beautiful steel bridge that would take us across the river valley. When I got close to the guy again, we came across another stop sign and I had to wait for a car to go past while Pace Setter McGoo in front of me got there right before the car did. While I waited for the car to pass me, Pace Setter's lead widened.
We got to the trails skirting the north bank of the river valley and I pushed as hard as I could to catch up to the guy, though somehow his lead kept widening. Going over the High Level Bridge, I saw him pull farther and farther ahead. How is he doing that?? I have a faster bike than him, and he's still managing to out-pace me! Am I really that out of shape? Am I really that terrible a cyclist??
I managed to get closer to him going up the hill on the south side of the bridge, but I lost any gains I made from the hill when I dismounted and carried the bike up the stairs. Those stairs always get me - I die a little bit every time I go up them, whether I'm taking light-as-air Mike or sack-of-potatoes Eastwood. Getting back on the bike at the top of the stairs, I huffed and puffed my way back up to a decent pace while I delighted in seeing Pace Setter stopped just ahead, waiting for a car to pass at an intersection. Hahaha, he's MINE now!!
I spent the two blocks leading through East Campus Village catching up to Pace Setter and finally caught up to him - yessss!!!! - as we passed through a parking lot on the east end of campus. As I passed him, I turned to him and managed to say, "Good morning!" without puking from the effort. He nodded and returned the sentiment, and as our eyes locked I realized with deep, crimson-faced shame that the person I've been dogging for the past three kilometres is a boy! He looked like he was hardly eighteen, maybe a first-year student, and I suddenly felt ridiculous. I pulled away from him, chastizing myself for having gotten so competitive with a fresh-faced teenager, and though I could hear his tires squeaking away behind me at times, he never did overtake me again.
I won. Against a boy. My God, I need to grow up.
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