This is going to be a tricky one to ask. 

Okay, I am just going to ask it. 

Is talking about bikes boring? 

‘Ho Hum.’ 

Tedious. 

I don’t mean the rides. 

I can talk about rides and their destinations all night. 

Haha, look at DERAILLEUR. 

I mean talking about the bike itself. 

The bike, what it does, what it has, what it can do. 

You know? 

I am going to be more specific. 

What I really mean is the ‘talk’ of a problem they are having with their bike. 

A current ‘issue.’ 

A ‘click’ they are hearing. 

Have you ever ridden with someone and that is all they talk about? 

Once it starts, it seems to have no end. 

It becomes all consuming. 

You can tell right away that this is going to be the focus. 

The looking down. 

The looking back. 

The shaking of the head. 

The swearing. 

The gliding. 

The stopping. 

I try and steer it away. 

‘How are you?’ 

‘Where are you off to?’ 

‘What a beautiful day.’ 

No luck. 

They come right back to it. 

In fact, they never left it. 

Let’s move it along. 

I bumped into someone the other day. 

They rode with me. 

They rode with me while they were experiencing the ‘click.’ 

It was so bad that I told them I had to turn off at the next road to head home. 

…I had no idea where that road would take me. 

Like, I get it, but at a certain point, I can’t do it. 

Sometimes I do not even know what they are talking about. 

A certain ‘click’ they are getting and obsessing over and why it could be happening, and it has consumed their entire ride. 

Ruined their entire ride.

I am not going to let it interfere with mine.

I am going to turn off at the next road to head ‘home.’

‘Riding with the Click’ 

Insert clenched teeth emoji here. 

‘There is another way to ride.’