Ever Race a Tractor?

Something funny happened to me as I was riding to work the other day. Part of my route takes me on a busy four-lane road with nice broad shoulders. On this particular morning, a highway worker was driving a big yellow tractor with scoop and backhoe down the road in the right lane, caution lights blinking. Hunched over the handlebars of my single-speed Raleigh commuter bike, pedaling like mad, I gradually caught up with him. I was going as fast as I could, and he was doing pretty much the same speed. So along we went side-by-side for a couple hundred yards through the rush hour traffic, just like we were racing in the Tour de France.

I glanced up at the driver in his cab a couple of times and we both smiled at the funny scene. It was then I remembered smart racing strategy: let your opponent do the work. So I slipped in right behind him, and drafted the big construction tractor the rest of the way to work. At the very last moment, I sprinted past him for victory at the finish line -- the parking lot of my office. :-)

I wish I had a photo of me trailing that tractor, because it must have been a comical sight indeed. And maybe next week I'll try taking on a trash truck.

Image: Aeden/Flickr