Why does it have to be Kerouac? There's plenty of other stream of conciousness writers out there. William S. Burroughs, James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, and William Faulkner all come to mind. I don't see this as a knock-off of anyone, but merely a literal explanation of a typical event on the bike path. We've all been there with our little bike-path ego battles whether we like to admit it or not. Hearing the creak of a bike coming up from behind us our legs automatically spin a little faster. Some old fart passes us on his 40 lb. mountain bike and it causes a damaging confusion in our psyche. Some d1ck gives you lip on the bike path, and you can either roll your eyes and ride on, or stick it too him. You'll still make it to where you're going either way. Mayo just spent the time to write his experience down for all of our reading entertainment. Although I personally think the bundle of sticks reference was childish, in this case the bike path was certainly the proper time and place to partake in such a frivolous battle. I'm getting tired of reading about squeaky bottom brackets and how to remove decals with a blow dryer. We're bike riders, and Mayo was out riding a bike.