[creekster]

I started riding a traditional diamond fame with cleated shoes and toe clips in 1972. I started using clipless pedals sometime in the 80s, although I don’t recall the exact year. I have never fallen from being unable to unclip in time, although I have come close a few times. My wife and I ride a tandem a fair amount and if the captain fails to unclip the stoker is going down with little protection and if I did that to my stoker I would suffer more than a little road rash, if you know what I mean. As a result, I am very, very conscious of getting out of the clip in time and this has carried over to my single bike as well.

In my earlier days I was in a few crashes while riding to close or not paying attention enough. I laid it down a couple of times on the Golden gate Bridge when I used to commute to SF from Mill Valley because I was riding too fast, the super smooth cement was wet and there are some really stupid pedestrians. A car that ran a stop sign has hit me, ruining my bike, breaking my wrist, bunging up my back and thrashing my helmet (which saved my head) but also eventually helping me to make the down payment for my first house.

I have had a few things thrown at me (but remember, I have been riding a long, long time compared to most here). I have had the pleasure of beating a dog around the snout with a frame fit pump while he was trying to chase me. I’ve been dropped many, many times. I have had the pleasure of being a fat guy that has dropped guys with lots of expensive gear but no leg strength. I have been the fat guy with no leg strength dropped by everybody.

I’ve been run off the road a couple of times, including once by a supreme court justice of the State of Utah who pulled out of a parking lot without looking and then put-putted along third south in SLC, which annoyed me so much that I sprinted up to his open car window and let loose with a string of profanities I would not now repeat before I realized who he was. This was awkward, you see, because at the time I was clerking for a different Utah Supreme Court justice and commuted by bike and everybody knew me as the bike geek, including this guy. Very awkward indeed.

But, in the end, I have had hours and hours of mind clearing and soul-refreshing rides in heat, cold, mountains, deserts, plains, towns and cities. It always comes back to the bike. Now days I am not fast, and I am not very fit, but I still like to ride. None of the bad things that have happened to me have ever outweighed the enjoyment I experience every time I get on the bike. I think it is the best sport or even activity ever invented.