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I went for my 40Km ride this afternoon.  Now I remember why I prefer early morning rides.  Fewer pedestrians, and particularly, fewer young kids.  I know the path is for everyone to use blah blah blah.. but it's tough to get a workout when you're stop/starting all the way and dodging unpredictable littlies on their first bike.  Thankfully, the pedestrians thin out once the Kedron Brook path becomes the Moreton Bay Cycleway.

The going was tough on the way out due to some strong headwinds, and I found myself regretting not turning back at the 10Km mark.  See, I'd pushed myself to do the 40Km ride on the basis that CQ is just around the corner and I need to get my Km's up etc.. anyway, so as I'm pushing along, struggling just to counter the wind, I'm thinking to myself, "Stupid CQ, stupid riding, stupid cycling, stupid wind".. basically just having a bit of an internal whinge.  I was able to keep up the internal monologue for the entire stretch along the Shultz Canal, which effectively distracted me from the effort involved.

When I got to the 20Km mark, I was feeling tired and sick and headachey and dizzy.  Gee, that sounds awfully like how I felt the other day when I didn't drink enough. Gee, look at that, the water bottle's been barely touched.  Seriously, will I ever learn???  I forced myself to drink a litre of water and had a few hundred mL of gatorade, washed down with some more water.  I refilled the bottle, stretched a bit, and set off on the return leg, telling myself I'd take it easy and just nurse the bike home.

Those of you who know me, or have ridden with me, or have just been keeping up with my cycling-related stories will probably already know what happened.  I did not just nurse the bike home.  I took it easy for a few minutes at most, got frustrated with going slow, and then thought, "Screw it, I'll just go hard and see how I go".

And boy, did I go.  I kicked it up to the 6th cog, and heard the chain start to "chatter" from being at too steep an angle.  That's my cue to jump onto the big chainring at the front and work on keeping the cadence up.  It was tough at first but I used my momentum to keep my feet turning, and between the effort and the tailwind (at least a headwind outbound means a tailwind inbound), I managed a new speed PB:  49.4Kph!!!!  I know it was assisted by the tailwind, but I don't care.  A PB is a PB, dammit!

I didn't realise it at the time, but I must've, at some point, really been pedalling fast.  I'm pretty sure it didn't happen whilst I was doing the speed PB (my feet were turning relatively slow at the time), but the computer recorded a top cadence of 175RPM!  For those of you who wonder what that means, it means I pedalled a full rotation of the cranks approximately 3 times per second.  I wish I'd been paying more attention to when it happened; for the life of me I can't remember pedalling that fast.  My feet would've been a blur LMAO!  After that, I was happy just to take it easy.  No.. really, I was!

I negotiated the shopping centre road as usual, then pulled up behind a car at the red lights.  Normally, I filter through to the front, so I can take off quickly and get out of peoples' way.  Why I didn't do it this time, I don't know.  In hindsight, it's obvious I should've done that.  Because...

When the lights turned green, the car in front of me turned left and I started to accelerate straight through the intersection.  One numb-nut driver, turning right from the other direction, turned in front of me.  I slowed down a tad but resumed my acceleration.  The retarded moronic brain-dead fool (I know this is supposed to be a family-friendly site, so I'm keeping it clean) behind him decided HE'D cut me off too.  It was too late for me to do anything but scream, and stick my arm out and yell "STOPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!".  Everyone in that intersection stopped and the world went into slow-motion.

Somehow, I'd unclipped my left foot in preparation for impact, and had come to a complete stop.  My right arm outstretched, my right foot still clipped in, my left foot holding me up, I watched as the driver realised what was about to happen and jam his brakes on.  The car's bumper was no more than a foot away from me when that car finally stopped.  It's the first time I've truly felt like I was going to die on my bike (despite previous hyperbole to that effect).

I screamed "FAR OUT!!!" at him, and rode off.  I didn't even have the presence of mind to curse at him, nor (what I really wanted to do) to give him a lecture about giving way.  I rode away feeling a bit scared, but mostly angry.  I screamed an indecipherable "UARUAAAURRHGGHHH!" as I rode off.  It was only then that I noticed a pedestrian, an innocent bystander if you will, had stopped and seen it all.  She was clutching her throat in terror at what might've been.  And, by then, I also realised what might've been.

I rode home angry, charging up the hated hill, and got cut off by yet another (*&@#$ retarded driver who does not understand how to give way.  I'm &(^@# tired of them.  Cyclists get treated like second-class citizens on the road, and I've had an absolute fragging gutful of it.

Ok, I've just realised I'm still angry about it, so I must stop posting now.  What I'd like you to take away from this story is this:  Upon reflection, it's possible the driver didn't see me until it was almost too late (the guy before him, on the other hand, had clear view of me and is, by definition, a turd).  Had I been at the front of the line, this never would've happened.  When confronted with a set of red lights, you should (and are legally allowed to) filter to the front of the line.  Sit yourself on or just after the white line (this allows cars behind you to trigger the sensor).  Be ready to accelerate hard out of the intersection, and get out of the way of the cars that are behind you once you're beyond the intersection.  This behaviour will prevent the type of incident I've described above.

I have to go now.  I'm sitting here typing in my stinky nicks and jersey.  MaxBabe refused to give me comforting cuddles because I smell bad!  So best I choof off and have a shower, and with any luck, I'll have forgotten my anger at the crash-that-never-was, and remember how good it felt to smash my previous speed PB