Aging Gracefully

On the bicycle commute home yesterday afternoon, I spied a rider in front of me just pulling away from a light on the outskirts of town heading into the farm/ranch country. This is not a common sight; I seldom see other cyclists heading my same direction on this stretch of road.

As I pulled closer, I could see he was dressed in full racer-boy garb and was on a high-zoot, all Dura-Ace, carbon wonderbike. His outfit matched perfectly, like a go-fast racer. The man's wind jacket, shorts, jersey, socks, and even helmet were all emblazoned with the name of a local resort; I have no doubt they sponsor a small team or at least a club. He must have ordered the full matching kit.

As I got closer I could see he had very defined calf muscles and obviously shaved his legs regularly. He was holding a good line and had a smooth spin. I took him for a racin' type; he must have had some experience, I decided, just looking at his form. I put a bit more effort into the pedals and pulled even with him for a chat.

To my surprise, I found a much older fellow than I had expected. His hair was rather gray and he sported a weathered face. He'd seen his share of sun and rain; he was not the young pup I'd thought.

We exchanged the usual pleasantries about the fine sunshine and jointly cursed the quartering headwind we found ourselves facing; we ended up riding together for three or four miles until he turned off from my route towards his home. Nice fellow.

After I caught up to him, he seemed to want to push the pace a bit. I stayed beside him, but soon found it a little more strenuous than I generally ride on the commute home. I was wishing I was on my own go-fast bike and not the fendered, racked, and fat-tired commuter steed. The bike I ride to work and back is one or two mph slower than my speedier ride, and I got to the point where I would have appreciated the quicker machine. Thankfully his turn-off arrived before I blew up totally.

As it turned out, I had worked for him almost 20 years ago on my first job out of university. Actually, I worked for a guy who in turn worked for this fellow. He's still at the same place today, though I moved on to the job I have now after only a short time. It was nice to reminisce about several memorable happenings from back in the day. He didn't remember me, but I didn't expect him to either. I was just a flunky at the time; he was (and still is) the big cheese.

The funny thing about this rider is that I'm pretty sure he was in his mid-40's back when I worked for him. That would make him approximately 20 years older than I. He must be in his early to mid-60's now. Not exactly an old geezer, mind you, but not the young buck I took him for back at the traffic light.

Yea, there I was struggling to hang with a guy who must be looking retirement right in the face.

As soon as he turned off, I dropped the pace and cruised on home.

I tell you what, though. I hope I've got anywhere near that level of health when I hit that age.