Following my usual route to work this morning, I cycled up Tothill road. I saw another cyclist up ahead and tried to catch up.
Fortune smiled on me as the other cyclist was slightly delayed by the traffic lights at the intersection where Tothill road becomes Greenbank road.
As I got close I realised it was a female cyclist. Like me, she was riding a hybrid with straight bars and she had a single pannier on her bike, while I carry double panniers.
The hill becomes steeper at this point, and for a single mad moment I was hoping she wouldn’t slow me down up the hill.
And then she took off! It was all I could do just to keep her in sight – her legs were spinning and she just zoomed up that hill, leaving me far behind, puffing like a steam engine.
Now make no mistake, I’m not sexist at all (except deliberately so when in the company of loud, overbearing militant feminists*, who thankfully are rare!). My fragile male ego is capable of publicly admitting I had been beaten comprehensively by a woman, which is why I’d like to publicly congratulate her.
Privately, I’d like to ask her for some tips on becoming better and faster at hill-climbing, though of course I’ll selfishly NOT share those tips with you!
*I equally dislike loud, overbearing male chauvinists!