At Least Make Me Work For It!!!!
I'd love to post that the girl was still throwing looks when I got to the spot today. Alas, she wasn't. She did look a little surprised to see me, especially when it became obvious that I'd be doing the ride with them.
The ending to this saga is pretty anticlimactic. About 10 minutes after the ride started, she rode up next to me . . . and proceeded to talk a damn hole in my head. She expended way too much energy trying to be nice and trying to get on my good side. This is a classic tactic. Nervous riders always try to make friends with riders who can potentially hurt them. Anyway, the fact that she tried to get on my good side was evidence enough of her defeat. She made sure to tell me how strong she is, how strong the guys say she is and how cycling is in her blood. Like I cared? Why talk about it when you should just ride away from me and prove it? Obviously, she couldn't and didn't even try. So, the ride was uneventful. I stayed at the front with the pacesetters. That's all I know how to do after years of racing. She stayed in the back (which is never a good move when you're riding or racing in a group). I did trackstands at stoplights. She clipped out. I helped to set the pace. She sat and followed. She told me she wanted to race. I bit my lip. I wanted to tell it like it is: "Those girls will chew you up and spit you out." Guess what? I'll let her find it out on her own. If a 44 year old broad who hardly rides anymore scares her, what does she think is going to happen in a race against girls and women who are decades younger?
It's time to turn my attention back to surfing. This little diversion was interesting at best. At least I know I can still bring it.
posted by Surfsister @ 16:18
6 comments
6 Comments:
You know what sis, you did the honourable thing. but wouldn't it have been nice to tell her to shut the f*!k up and ride, say "talk is cheap and how much money do you have to lose sweetheart." But karma will repay you for being kind and patient. I said goodbye to a good friend this weekend and if you like you can read the eulogy on the Asshat. Snowy, gray and rainy in the Burgh, hope it's sunny where you are.
aw, what a let down... oh well, good on ya for not adding humiliation to the already kowtowed...
Soul Brother #1, who saw the look last week and also did the ride yesterday, said he thinks someone told her who I was and how I ride. It's just as well.
Years ago I remember Soul Brother #1 making a guy cry with regard to me. This guy had come on a ride with us (i.e., a group) and bragged about how good he was. Then we just punished him. When we hit the hills, we all left him. My then boyfriend (and now husband) taunted the guy with, "You let a girl beat you up the hill?" It reduced the guy to tears. And it's funny because Soul Brother #1 is one of the least sexist guys I know. But he used that macho angle to break this guy's spirit for good. Classic.
I'm in agreeance with Kono on this one.
(Although...My competitive side says....wouldn't she have actually needed to be a challenge....for you to 'bring it'? lol...)
Good for you for showing...instead of shouting.
nm, she wasn't a challenge at all. Instead, I turned my sights towards bringing it to the guys on the ride. That's why I stayed in the front. The strong riders stay to the front by choice and make everyone else stay in the back. There is a tendency, especially among the brothers (although these weren't all brothers), to assume the women will stay in the back and sit on. I don't do that. And I didn't do it yesterday.
I'm with Alan a bit, what a let down. I thought you were going to say you told her "I can't talk right now, I'm getting ready to smoke you" and speed off. But yeah, good karma to you. I learned my lesson during my first ever tri last summer - I figured the 44-49 age group would have some easy pickins, but those fellow geezers had been riding bikes for years, left me in the dust. Little consolation I beat some of them in the swim portion.
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