I Ride Therefore I Wave

It's April 26 and already I've ridden more miles on the bike than I did all of last April and May combined. With spring weather that cooperates the biking season is underway. This Sunday entails a 62-mile ride through the rolling hills of central Minnesota. I'll be sharing the road with 4000 other cyclists, stopping from time to time to load up on bananas, bagels and Gatorade. What could be more fun on April 30 than biking in the Minnesota Ironman?

There's a code for cyclists when you meet a fellow rider on the road. You don't shout out, "how ya doin?" or even really make direct eye contact. All that's required is a simple two fingered wave. I've mastered the two-finger wave. At this point, I don't even have to remove my hand from the handlebars. I simple extend two fingers in the rider's direction briefly...then regrip the handlebar. There's no pause, no loss of momentum and best of all no small talk as two cyclists pass on the road. Life is good!

I often wonder what those passing me in their cars must think (they don't get a wave, by the way). Here I am, black bike shorts, a colorful jersey, fingerless gloves, bike helmet, clipless shoes chugging up a hill out of the saddle - or maybe screaming down a hill in aero-mode. From behind me a big red Chevy 4X4 lurks waiting to pass. When the road is clear I hear the roar of the Chevy. The passenger side window is down and a bulky bearded dude with a cigarette dangling from his mouth gives me a look like I just landed from Jupiter. Those are the moments I'd like to have, just for a moment, the super power of Steve Austin in the Six Million Dollar Man series. I'd hit the pedals and blast by the Chevy - making bearded smoking man swallow his ashes as he stares at the Cannondale logo on my ass.

Just once.

-end-