ADRENALINE

It was a beautiful night and I got off early, so I rode to the cactus for a burrito after work, leaned my bike against a wall and tried to order, but they wouldn't take my card unless it was over $10. I'll be back. I turn around and my bike is gone. Instantly, my thought is, "go," and I start scanning the street. 100 yards off, headed North, I see my back light blinking. The gates open and I animate like a bat out of hell. That's my mother fuckin bike. WOOF! My heart is racing, my head is pounding like my feet to the pavement, and my mental accelerator is filling my body with ADRENALINE. I am preparing myself for what is next. A showdown.

As he slows for the signal to turn right onto Santa Monica I know now is my chance; because if he turns the corner, I'll get tired and he'll ride off. I can't let that happen. My feet are ripping up the pavement with anticipation, and as he clumsily navigates my fixie, I pounce off the sidewalk and side check his ass off it. "THATS MY BIKE, MAN!" I command, and I start swinging my prize.

"If you hit me with that shit, I'll kill you. I'll stab you," he claims and he starts reaching in his pocket. An idle threat I think, but why test it.

"It doesn't have to come down to that," I roar back at him.

As I'm standing in the middle of the street, bike clutched in fight mode, he stumbles stupidly back onto the sidewalk and waves me off. WOOF! Thats my mother fuckin bike. I'm still standing in the middle of the street.

If I had wore my clip-ins, there's no way I would have caught him running. I usually always wear my biking shoes, but for some reason, I just felt like wearing my regular shoes. If they had taken my card and processed it, he would have been long gone before I looked at my bike again.

A number of coincidences led me to experience this, and I feel really good about my ability to handle the situation and react with lightning certainty. I am a man who will stand up and fight.