Nerves Before the Start

I'm still off work from SteepandCheap, so I'm sharing a post that I wrote on July 10 back in 2007. Enjoy, or not.

My nerves accompanying kickball games have pretty much gone away. I used to get a little nervous before games, but it's nothing compared to the nerves I felt before bike races. I sat at the start with a pale face that I blamed on a hangover from "pre-riding" the course, but I was freaking out. My only goal was to finish high enough not to humiliate myself and try to beat the old guy who always lined up next to me. Unfortunately, I rarely beat the old guy. He would always find me hanging out with my team after races and ask us where we finished. My two teammates would go first, giving him their times, to which he'd respond, "Well, you beat me." Then I'd tell him how I did and he'd say, "Well, I beat you today." My friends couldn't even hold their laughter until the old guy walked away. That guy definitely didn't help my nerves. Still, I hope he's not dead yet, but he was pretty old.

It's a safe bet by now that this guy's time is up. Sad to think he's gone, but he still crushed me on the course all those years ago. I hope it brought him great joy.