Originally Posted by Digital Gee
This makes the fourth attempt to post this. All the previous ones ended with a blank page, after several minutes waiting for it to load. So...wishing myself luck here...
I was pedaling along on Harbor Boulevard, when up ahead I spotted an older guy on a MTB. This guy was the spitting image of ME, six months ago.
He was a Clydesdale, of course. He was making his way on a shiney new MTB but his progress was painfully slow. He was clearly a Fred, as well -- nothing he wore but his helmet was related to cycling. As I passed him, I was astonished how much he looked like me a while back -- were we twins, separated at the LBS?
His expression was a combination of exhaustion and delight. Though he had no speed, he had determination. He was obviously new to cycling, but, despite the effort it demanded, having a ball.
I felt a sense of kinship and briefly considered pacing him, perhaps to engage in conversation, perhaps to bond with a fellow traveler at a simliar junction in life.
Agree about still the difficulty in posting. But that was not a new rider- you have turned into a time traveller and it was you last year. Do you remember being passed by a fit Fred last year on one of your earlier rides?
You did right in not talking to him and breezing past him on your celest. Last time I stopped to talk to a rider on the trails- I never saw him again. Must be something about other dimensions and not meeting each other.