Karma and the Walk of Shame
 

I'm a huge believer in karma, but still hate when I'm on the receiving end. I had some kind of stomach bug through the weekend, so when I finally got back in the saddle yesterday evening, my legs were fresh and my bowels clear. (When you're over 45, these are both good things.) Anyway, I started out on my favorite 26 mile training route... it starts with a mile or so through the neighborhood ending in a steep, short climb up to a main road, then a sprint through a busy intersection followed by several miles of hilly bike lane.

I cruised through the neighborhood and then what's that I see at the top of the hill climbing out? Why, it's another roadie. I don't recognize him, but that doesn't matter. Race on, whether he knows it or not. I almost caught him at the traffic light, but he darted through on the red (I don't do it unless there's ZERO traffic at this intersection.) The next light, at the bottom of a hill, slowed him down but I caught it green. I carried my momentum into the first hard climb and passed him going so fast it should have blown his helmet off. I smiled and uttered an evil chuckle. Who's your daddy now?

I rode hard the next five miles as he slowly faded further behind. When we came to the 2+ mile dam at the lake, I waited for him... "I'll let him pass", I thought, "Then I'll hunt him down like a lion on the trail of a wounded gazelle." He passed, I gave him a sporting headstart, and the chase began. A half-mile later... BAM... wobble. Picked up something huge and blew the rear tube. Pull over, climb behind the concrete barrier, clear the tire, change the tube, hit it with the CO2 and jump back over the barrier. I'm still in the game, I think. Go a few hundred yards... BAM... wobble. Freaking back tire again!!!

I'm guessing in my haste, I didn't do a good enough job clearing the tire and left something sharp behind. Repeat... over barrier... open bag. CRAP! (can I say that on here?) Used the only spare I had with me! Of course now I'm on the middle of the dam and have to do a mile-and-half Walk of Shame to get to a point where my wife can come pick up my sorry butt. She laughed, I took it like a man. Only cried once. I knew I should have slowed when I first passed the guy and given him a fighting chance. Karma is cruel.

And for what it's worth, I walk exactly 3.0 mph in road shoes while pushing a bike on level ground. Handy information should I ever need it.

They say karma is essentially neutral.

Perhaps on a cumulative basis. The only thing neutral in this instance was the pressure in my rear tube.

what does karma have to do with you "racing" some roadie that didnt know you were "racing" ?

Can't we just enjoy a good story without getting scientific? Yeah, it's a stretch, but I figured it was better than a story titled... "Had Two Flats, Had to Walk" or "What Bike Should I Buy?" As to your second point, admit it... you see another roadie out in front when you're riding solo, you chase him. It's like a law or something.

I guess Karma gave him flats for riding like a jerk.

Cool story, brah. I liked the part where you got the flats.

You guys are strung waaaaay too tightly, but then again, this is the "41." Other than not informing him that he was being hunted, where exactly did I ride like a jerk?

Hey man! Where you been?

I think most of us have done that walk of shame once. I started carrying a patch kit after I did that the first time.

Really?!?!

But...cool story bro!

Ironically, I removed the patch kit when I dropped the small frame pump and started carring C02 in the little saddle bag... space is at a premium. Perhaps that was the karma. ; )

lmao... Note to Self: Levity is lost in the roadie forum.

We now return to your regularly scheduled programming...

So I can't decide between the red bike with the curvy handlebars and the blue one with the extra bottle holder. Which one should I get? I want to go fast but I don't want to be one of those funny looking guys in bright clothes. Speaking of which, do I wear my underwear over or under the bike shorts?

Keeping your opponents in the dark about racing you is always an important Fred Key to Victory.

Good read, sorry for your letdown. Flats come in second only to headwinds on the Loathe-o-meter.

I would be good to know a few things about your opponent:

Did he have freshly shaved glistening legs?

Was he on a fancy Cervelo?



My observation is you must have not wanted the win bad enough if you let a flat rear tire stop you.

Levity lost...you cannot lose that which does not exist. This is the 41.

...but hey, the Dude abides! :thumb:

Any adavantage is a good advantage... War is Hell. On separate note, I'm honored to have you posting in my thread while you're under the care of a hot nurse... you obviously have a fine sense of priorities.

I do hope you recover quickly.

I was going too fast when I passed him to note either the kit or the follicle condition of its rider. Of course, when I deigned to allow him to pass me, I was required to ignore him as he was obviously a slow rider and therefore not a "true" roadie. Your final observation is, unfortuately, accurate. I'll blame the heat for lack of clear thinking... what is one rim in the face of possible Fred Victory?

I'll bet you're one of those guys who doesn't throw rocks in the water before casting a line when fishing or sound an air horn to alert whatever you're hunting so it's more sportsmanlike....

Pcad is in the hospital. Couldn't have been him.

If you hadn't let him pass you, you could have been writing about that rodie that blew by you after getting a flat. ;)

Too bad about the flats. I learned long ago to have at least two repairs on the bike.

The "levity" is thinking about you waiting for your unsuspecting prey to pass you so you can blow by him again. Funny and sporting at the same time.

I think the reason people are so huffy about this is because of a bad shared experience that goes something like this:

I was riding down the North Branch Trail to visit my friends in Chicago and maybe grab some pizza at Pequod's. A guy on a poorly maintained ten speed (with the saddle way too low) pulls up behind me and hangs out there long enough that his squeaky chain begins to annoy me. Eventually, he decides to pass. After getting about 50ft. ahead of me, the rider slows so that I have to pass him. He hangs out on my wheel again. This is repeated four or five times. Eventually I stop for a minute or so to be rid of the guy. Presumably, the MUP racer now declares victory and brags to his friends about the time he raced a guy on a $400 bicycle with a pannier hanging off of one side and won.

While this is annoying, it is actually pretty uncommon. I'm a lot more annoyed by the folks who decide to go for midday training rides on the MUP :notamused:

At least it wasn't in the rain .. and the roadie didn't return to taunt you.

Yup. Unwritten law. I chase down runners on my runs too. Builds mental toughness for me, which is half the battle when my muscles and joints are aching, it's hot, I'm quickly dehydrating, and still 5K left to run.