Bike to Work #3

I've managed to keep up with my plan to bike to work. For 4 weeks now, I've ridden to work at least twice per week. It's definitely getting easier. My legs don't get sore anymore, my knees don't hurt anymore, and my morning bed-to-bike time is down to about 10 minutes. Until yesterday, I even thought I was getting really fast.

Two events occurred yesterday though that have definitely humbled me as a biker. First, during my ride into work, I was passed by a teenage kid, fully dressed in the standard Mormon uniform: white short-sleeved button-up shirt, tie, and black pants. And he didn't just pass me, he passed me at an embarrassingly fast pace, while riding on an old knobby-tired mountain bike.

The second event occurred during my ride home. While stopped for a red light at the intersection of Modoc and Las Positas, a female biker pulls up. But instead of stopping behind me, she squeezes between me and the adjacent car, then stops directly in front of me. "Who does this girl think she is?", I wondered to myself. "She must think, just by looking at me, that she's a lot faster". No way could I let her get away with that kind of condescending assumption, right? So when the light turned green, I just followed her. Not too close as to make her feel uncomfortable, but close enough for her to know that I could keep up. 5 miles later, when she slowed down to put in her iPod headphones, I even passed her. My turn at the lead didn't last long though. One mile after passing her, she passed me back. Now revved-up from her new tunes, she passed by me fast, leaving me with barely enough time to turn my face away, hiding it in shame. I tried for a few minutes to keep up again, but it was useless. She was riding at least 5 mph faster than what I could sustain.

So to summarize, here's what I've learned...
Not only am I not fast on a bike, that fact is apparently obvious just by looking at me. :(