Tally Ho!
Tall Friend’s Wife says that I’m competitive, and get the impression that she doesn’t mean it in a good way. I’ve always just shrugged it off as projection, but I also have the feeling somewhere at the back of head that she may have a point.
Especially after this morning. I ended up racing another rider through North Shields and most of the way to Royal Quays. I’d seen him a couple of hundred yards ahead, and somehow the race reflex had cut in. I may have even cried, “Tally Ho!” as I cut it down a gear and spun those pedals.
The other guy put up a spirited defence, but . . . well . . . as Mrs Tall Friend says, I am a bit competitive.
Sorry.
Some say that if you have two cyclists riding in the same direction you have a race. That’s probably true unless one of the cyclists is me because generally I can’t be bothered.
I’ve found myself in many improptu “races” on the Burke Gilman trail during my bike commutes; and most of them never have a clearly defined acknowledgement of when they start, they just kind of happen… Nothing better than a good-spirited sprint to liven up the ride to or from work, even though I lose almost every one of them….
Interesting. Where I live in Toronto, pedestrians generally don’t race each other on the sidewalks and cyclists generally don’t race each other in the bike lanes. We’re just going where we’re going.
I don’t race, although “catching” someone ahead is a good reason to stay one cog higher and put a bit of work in when the motivation is flagging.
The one thing I do tend to do is to catch red light jumpers (point of principle) in the hope that the buggers will get the idea that not stopping doesn’t really save them a lot of time. (And in Manchester, it generally doesn’t).