The Ultimate Answer

42 is the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe etc.  Clearly being that very age, this means I have all the answers.  Or  not.  Maybe it is all downhill after this year and therefore I must  make the most of the few months I have remaining.

The joy of commuting to work on the bike at this age is that really, whoever overtakes you on their two wheeled pedaling machine you accept it with equanimity.  It's no problem at all, after all, you have excuses (reasons).  Firstly hey, I'm middle aged, secondly, well, I'm female and prepared to use that to my advantage.  Thirdly I am not a mountain goat / whippet type person and indeed do not have a history of fitness or competitiveness.  This enables you to watch the world pedal by without a care in the world.

Show me, however, a whiff of a mudguard in the road ahead which appears to be getting nearer and it's like a McDonalds to an American.  I cannot resist, and every focus becomes the arse in front which is gradually looming larger.  Like a slinking stealthy predator I reach a maintainable cadence and gently click up a gear so I'm pushing pushing pushing.  I learned early on that a sprint is not maintainable.  And yes, I take the victim who is not only unsuspecting but generally also uncaring, simply cycling their way from A to B. As of course am I.  It's not a competition, just a personal achievement and feeling of joy.

Much more fun is to be had, I find as a law abiding cyclist of sitting quietly at the red lights whilst other less conscientious individuals steal past on their naughty steeds.  Drifting gently past them once the lights are green is more fun than a girl could have, and perfectly legal.  There's a stretch of road on my way home I've happily repeated this sequence 5 times with the same cyclist in one journey.  All the while the mantra is going round in my head "I'm old enough to be your mother".

It's not a competition, it's a commute.  I know that, but isn't it fun to watch the youth of today take you on as an easy overtake and at the first up hill section fall behind you as you glide past on your sit up and beg bike?  Sometimes I even go slower on the flat to entice them in.