Musings on Running a Bluff and Gunfighting

For some strange reason, I have gotten a reputation in the local area as a fast guy on a bike, something I find very amusing, cuz I am anything but that.  First off, I never was fast, even when I was young, and now that I am getting older, I am certainly not going to change that much.  So I am not sure where this comes from, but I think many of the young guns that I ride with are just too new to know what really fast is.  So, for now I am running a big bluff.  Call it MTB Poker, if you will.  The cards I am holding may not be a winning hand, but I am crafty, sneaky, experienced, and downright dishonest as to what I may or may not have up my sleeve.  No short sleeve jerseys for me...I need all the 'luck' I can get.

So I will continue the game as long as I can, hoping that a good poker face and a carefree disposition will keep 'em wondering.  And, every so often I will get a winning hand as the fates allow.  Even a blind pig finds an acorn once in a while, ya' know.  That lucky hand, a singlespeed, and the mean look in my eyes will have to do to keep the young guns from calling my bluff.  It proved itself for many a grizzled and bent cowboy in the past and they only had one gear on them horses too.

Riding a singlespeed has a tremendous psychological effect on the young guns.  It makes them wonder what you have tucked away in the waist belt that is just under that long coat of yours.  It worked for Clint Eastwood...it works for me.  Just imagine showing up to a gunfight with a single shot pistol.  It makes an impression:  "I only need need one bullet to kill you", it says.  Hah.  Gotta love that.  Even if I am not quick to the draw, I have the emotional edge going into the fight. 

You just know that Wyatt Earp was a singlespeeder.  Look at that handlebar 'stache and steely eyed look. 

Wyatt Earp March 19, 1848--January 13, 1929

"Fast is fine, but accuracy is everything."
Wyatt Earp

 

Amen, brother Earp.  Amen.