I am male... I am insecure

I am male
I am insecure
I hate being passed on the bike

the cars that pass me tend to irk me when they pass too fast and too close
that is not the passing I am thinking of at this moment
it is the action of other cyclists passing me that causes me frutstration
there are so many faster cyclists than me
I have come to accept that
it is more a matter of how the pass occurs
and then what happens after the pass

today was a prime example of such a pass...

care to hear my tale from the trail?

I was an hour into a post work ride and moving along pretty okay on the Capital Crescent Trail
having duked it out on some major roads in some hectic rush hour traffic I was in cruise mode
just as I passed over the maryland/dc line I felt a presence to my side
right there in my blind spot
there may or may not have been an audible
more than likely there was not
the rider passed focused on the path ahead and the tunes in his ears
then before the pass was complete he drifted into the space in front of me
not a polite distance
so close that I had to slow a pedal stroke or two

then it happened
that thing that happens so often when a road biker passes another cyclist
the effort was on the pass and not on the motion forward
his pace dropped
the drop in pace was slight
but the pace was dropping just the same
so a wheel that was already too close to my front wheel got closer as I continued spinning at the same rate

so I moved in along side of him and told him that his pace was dropping
with his head phones on I am not sure he heard me
but he responded... I know

so I maintained the pace of the pass
the trail took a slight downhill
allowing the pace to pick up
I muscled the fast rotation of the cranks
sure enough
there was a sucker on my rear wheel
I did not try to shake him
I did tried to just ignore him
eventually he passed me
I kept my thoughts and my words to myself
the road biker is a different breed
so I let him go with his thoughts and ideas in his head and my thoughts and ideas in my head

my pace slowed a tad as I watched this rider pull forward and away
then I took my pace back to its previous pace
still watching as he road away and disappeared around the bend

the final miles of the capital crescent trail fed onto K Street in Georgetown
there he was
refueling? playing with his iPod? resting? collecting his crown as king of the capital crescent trail?
I am not sure
I was still rolling as I still had a few miles to go to take me home
my objective was to get home to the kids and see if we could arrange a game of kick the can
I was not out trying to collect a bonus for winning the sprint on the capital crescent trail

but honestly...
if your goal is to out ride a 23o pound mountain biker out on a post work ride...
well.... you have set your sites sort of low

just another day on the trail.