So I decided to ride to work today – nothing odd about that! Just a good thing to do. Well, I didn’t feel like chasing a PR so I was just rolling along, minding my own business. A tri-geek passes me, not going much faster than me. We hit about 3 Silver Comet Trail intersections together. He yells “CLEAR”…. I say “THANKS”… he knows I am behind him. We get rolling a bit better and I fall in behind him. At first I give him a gap… he knows I am back there… as we start to go up a mild rise… he slows a bit and I get closer. He is riding reasonably smooth – reasonably straight. I relax my “defenses” a bit and get closer. Life is good. I am going to get to work earlier… nice. All of the sudden out of NO WHERE…. he slams on the brakes. I crap my chamois and lock up my brakes. I pull into a nose wheelie… skid a bit… I want to yell WTF! Alas… I see there was a squirrel scampering around on the trail that apparently made this guy lose his mind.
Why don’t people STEAR their vehicles in the event of a bad situation? Brakes are not always the answer. I had to use mine… as we were going onto a bridge at the time and there was no place to go. Below is my rear tire… Now to find a ride to a bike shop at lunch – My ride needs some new sneakers.
