The Weaker Sex

During our 3-hour dinner at the Melting Pot on Thursday, Henry and I talked about fun memories we've had together. We talked about our many fun bike rides together, and then I remembered this story - the story of the weaker sex. I thought I should share.

One time Henry and I were biking the Provo Canyon trail (Henry on his cool road bike, me on my slow mountain bike). It was a lovely day, and we had a good time. I enjoyed watching Henry's rear as he was, as always a bit ahead of me going 'slow' so I could keep up. Suddenly, some old dude passed me on his fancy road bike, and then caught up to Henry. I could see him say something to Henry, and then saw him disappear. Henry now slowed down dramatically and I caught up with him. When I was next to Henry, he told me that the old bike dude had said something about me being behind because I was the weaker sex (I can't recall exactly what the guy said, but in essence he called me the weaker sex). And that did it. No one calls me weaker anything, especially not weaker sex, so I told Henry to meet me at the end of the trail, but that I'd step it up a notch to get my weaker sex body to pass the old dude on his bike and show him how fast the weaker sex can go. Phhhhhhh...So, fuming I sped off on my bike, giving it my all. Now, you need to know, that I wasn't a bad biker or anything. I'd bike fairly regularly, and overall was in pretty good shape. So, I felt pretty sure that I could catch up to that lame old dude, even though he was on a road bike and I was on my mountain bike. At some point, I could see him ahead of me, and so I kept biking like a maniac, trying to catch up. When it happened - the weaker sex gene kicked in. Suddenly I couldn't breathe anymore. My whole throat seemed to be constricted, and I was gasping frantically for air. I think it was an asthma attack, but I wouldn't know since I don't actually have asthma and never had anything like this happen before or since. Defeated, I had to stop, and try to not pass out because I couldn't breathe. When Henry caught up with me I was still gasping for air, unable to breathe properly, so Henry wasn't sure whether he should laugh that I furiously tried to catch up to some guy because he called me 'the weaker sex' or if he should be worried about my breathing. I think he chose to be concerned about my breathing...

Anyway, the moral of this story is that if some biker calls you the weaker sex, don't waste your energy on trying to catch up with him. Instead, bike back to your car, drive to the end of the trail, wait for the biker, and then punch him in the face when he least suspects it. Oh, and don't call me 'the weaker sex'. :)