Pride Cometh Before....

Last Saturday I went riding up Soledad Canyon Road towards Acton on my weekly bike ride. I was feeling pretty good. I had my heart monitor on and could see that my heart rate was low and that I was recovering quickly after each hill climb. I was coming back and as I started up the climb from Agua Dulce Canyon Rd to the Soledad tunnel I could see two riders ahead of me about half way up, and I could tell I was gaining on them. "Wow" I thought. "I really have improved." I didn't quite catch them before the tunnel and they went pretty fast on the downhill side, so I didn't catch them till the top of the next hill. When I did I kind of blew by them and thought smugly that they must be admiring how quick this old man is. I shot down the next hill, under the freeway at Shadow Pines and blew down the road subconsciously thinking to myself that they were dropping behind quickly and admiring my speed, if they could even see me.

I topped the next hill in good time and crossed Sand Canyon road when all of a sudden there they were, passing me. "Well," I thought, "I gave them a good pull and now I'll draft them.". But now I was having a little trouble keeping up with them. I pushed hard and stayed about 10 yards behind (drafting actually really makes me really nervous) as we crossed over the road by Anna Frieda and went under the freeway to the bike path. I passed them again as we went through the gate and noticed that one of them seemed to have a black knee-high stocking on his left leg only. "Kind of weird" I thought. (Regular bike riders only wear the short ankle-high socks and knee-highs are a dead give-away the rider is a novice) but this sock was only on one leg.

After about a half mile they passed me again and I looked closer and realized he had a carbon fiber prosthetic calf. Well, that was kind of humbling. This guy had half a left leg and he was pushing me. Now as I was riding behind him I saw he was sitting over to the right of his saddle and was moving kind of strange as he peddled. I looked closer and this time I realized that his left thigh was only about as big as my arm!! I had to laugh at myself for being such a big schmuck. (That's Yiddish kids, not a swear word.)The only reason I could catch him on the hill is because he was peddling with only one leg. That was REALLY humbling! Pride really does come before the fall.