Competition and the Ride Home
I have never considered myself to be a competitive person. Perhaps at one point I wasn’t, or perhaps I’ve just been deluding myself all this time. The first indisputable proof that I am indeed a competitive person came when I started riding my bike to work on a regular basis*. I noticed after only a few weeks that I just could not tolerate being passed, and had an unquenchable thirst to pass others. Now in the grand scope of competitive behavior, this assessment isn’t really all that scathing. Even assuming that you (like me) have some presentiment that excessive competition is contra-indicative of peak mental health, you will probably grant that a behavior like running at the head of the heard is a natural survival instinct. ...