Ed's ego rides again...

(Image by See bas tiaan on Flickr)

A week ago, as I rolled along easily on my morning commute, I sensed something behind me just as I crested the first bridge at Bird Creek. A second later, someone said, "On your left!" and another bicycle commuter swept by at speed. I shouted, "Good morning!" and he was gone.

Now, the guy was probably 20 years younger than me, and he carried only a large hydration pack. He rode a hybrid, spinning in a relatively large gear. He turned west on 66th and headed toward Mohawk Park.

I kept grinding on south toward the airport.

This morning, as I was southbound on Main Street, I saw another cyclist going west on 76th. It was the same guy! My ego nudged the speed up a couple of notches. He was moving fast as 76th is usually busy with car traffic, but when he turned south onto Mingo, he let up a bit.

I was in the drops, head down, and pedaling at a higher pace than I'd normally try to sustain. I closed the gap from roughly a quarter of a mile down to about 100 yards by the time we reached the Bird Creek bridges. That's when he saw me.

His cadence increased and the gap slowly widened. I gave about 3 seconds thought to sprinting after him, but I knew too well that there would be nothing left when (or if) I caught him. I'd have been able to gasp a hello, and he would have simply ridden away.

I sat up and went back to spinning easily. Still, my legs were mostly big hunks of wood through the morning.

An ego can be a dangerous thing.