Red topped bastard

Spotted this bloke in red on the way home. He looked about my age and weight (had a beer gut that looked mighty similar) and even grey hairs in the right places. I thought for a moment that I was looking at a dopelganger.

Then the bastard just took off like a rocket and left me eating his dust. The similarities in our physique and fitness ended mighty quick. I only caught him because he stopped at a red light.



There's this stretch of Lilyfield Road where it's a nice downhill and it's easy to drift up to about 45km/h without really trying. It's a favourite spot for me to catch the quick bastards, because my weight gives me a tremendous push down the hill, allowing me to build speed really quickly.

I tried it on this bastard - no dice, couldn't catch him at 45km/h. Cranked it up to 50 and showed minimal gains only - he was really cooking. Downhill stretches don't last forever, so I thought I'd have a chance of catching him as we went around the bends and into some gentle uphill bits - but he just kept on thumping out the power, and I just died in the arse.

Nice to know there are some old bastards out there with a bit of pace.

We both stopped at the red, had a breather, and I snapped this photo. When the light went green, we took off - he much more quickly than me - and then this skinny little bugger (Julian I think) just blew past both of us like we were standing still.

I did catch Julian a bit later on though. The very last bit of Lilyfield Rd has a nice steep bit - steep enough to hit 60km/h without even trying - and the difference in our weights really showed on that hill. He was pedalling like mad, and I was only rolling without turning a crank, and I went past him like I had a jetpack on the back.

At my age, not only are there people out there that are much fitter and faster than me - there are people even fitter and faster than them.