Hi folks,
I was out riding the bike the other day with my friend Rory, who loves to always ride ‘balls to the wall,’ as they say. He just can’t help it! Honest! He can’t! As we approached a set of farm buildings where a delightful cat lives, Rory said, “are you going to stop and see the cat?” Notice, he didn’t say “are we going to stop?” I said “of course,” but I could tell that Rory wanted to keep on riding! So we stopped! Now, this cat is delightful, is always glad to see visitors, and she has three beautiful kittens. Rory finally climbed up into the barn to see the kittens following my encouragement to do so, and then he took this photo of us (the author, a couple of the kittens and mom!).
The author taking time to stop and visit the kittens! Photo by Rory.
As we were riding away, Rory says, “you know, that was a good idea to stop for a minute to visit with the cat and her kittens.” It wasn’t a question. It was a statement of bemused confusion expressing the view that actually stopping during a training ride might not necessarily be a bad thing, and that it had not occurred to him before – that was my interpretation, anyway!
There is hope for Rory yet!
That said, Rory is the one person who has helped me to ride my bike in races as if I am in a race and not just looking around at the scenery, which is my natural inclination. Thanks Rory! And I am glad you stopped to see the kittens, too, as you’ll be a long time dead, my friend. I bet you’ll remember those kittens long after you remember racing on your bike!
-k @FitOldDog
Will edit this later, just reading it at the moment. Just want to say I hate that American expression “visit with”. It’s too weird. It basically means “to meet”?
Hi Marian!
Hate is a strong word. Languages evolve, and when they evolve in different physical locations it is normal that they should diverge! This reminds me of a joke:
An American meets and Englishman
American – “What’s up!”
Englishman – “In England, we never finish a sentence with a preposition.”
American – “OK! What’s up asshole!”
Love that joke!
-k (OldDog!!)