Big Bikes

Highlander

The other day M and I were driving down Mass Ave. I was going the speed limit, if not a little above, rolling up to the intersection with Mystic Valley Parkway. I was planning on taking a left turn at the light, so I was oriented accordingly on the roadway.

Then it happened.

That sounded more foreboding than it really was.

This dude comes blazing up behind us, gets right on my ass and starts getting all aggro. Then he cuts right and tries to out-run me (to the red light which we're less than a hundred yards from). Me being the inherently competitive dick that I am, I decide to match him, effectively blocking him, "shutting the door." He leaned out his window, screaming something at us and waving his fist. He was so committed to his belligerent course of action he didn't notice that while the left turn arrow that I was traveling toward had gone green, the light to go straight had turned red. He hesitated, half-stopping in the middle of a a busy intersection, then gunned it.

On the other side of the intersection he screeched a U-turn into a gas station and came out on Mystic behind us. For second it looked like he was going to pursue us, but no, he had just missed his turn and had needed to correct for it by looping through the gas station.

M asked if I was scared at any point, "no" I replied, "the guy's driving a Toyota Highlander."

I can see how he could have confused being "The Highlander" and being in a "Toyota Highlander."

Be careful out there.

Now...SSUSA photos with captions!


It was warm 70° day, but the streams were full of snow run off from the hills. This made for cold feet.

Dejay's idea of water stop. It's backcountry dude!

The early climb. There was a lot of socializing going on as we ground up the thing.
I tired to focus on how clean and clear the air was, how good it felt in my lungs,
not how farty and bloated I felt from the Dale's Pils I drank during the roll out.

Dejay's idea of a Le Mans start. Riders had to take their front wheels off, leave their bikes around a corner, and walk down the hill a ways. What I lost in the run I made up for with my quick-mechanic-quick-release-skills. And what I made up for with my quick-mechanic-quick-release-skills I lost with my crappy fitness on the climb.

Single Speed races are way more talky than normal-people races. Partially on a account of all the pushing the bike business. I learned a lot people's names and hometowns that day. And then totally forgot them.