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A blast from the past!

Went to a wine tasting today, which is of little note, except for the fact I met someone I hadn't seen in at least 20 years, and was so surprised, I had to blog about it.

For those of you who don't know Alex, or may have just forgotten (it has been 20 years), Alex was one of the charter members of Lightning Velo, the bike club I used to ride with, and is most remembered for the encounter we had with an old man driving his car on PCH. It seems this driver didn't like the way we were riding, so he decided to cut in front of us, and stop, causing Alex to run into him.

No one was hurt, but this guy decided he was going to teach us a lesson, and proceeded to try and get out of his car. Now Alex, at 24 years of age was a pretty buffed guy, who was also a boxer, and not someone I would ever want to meet in a dark alley, so why this old man (at least 60 years old) wanted to get out of his car, and mix it up with about 8 pretty pissed off cyclists was beyond me.

So Alex, without much hesitation, just "popped" this guy in the nose as he was trying to get out of the car, forcing him back into his seat. After that, reason triumphed over everything else, and the old man quickly sped off. Nothing else ever came of the incident, except for us telling that story for years to come.

It was shortly after that, Alex went a different way, and I hadn't heard from him since. I actually thought he had returned to his home in Argentina, which he informed me he did, but only for about a year, after which he returned to the US.

So it was with great astonishment [more like shock actually] when I walked over to this guy, who looked a lot like my neighbor, to listen to his conversation, just out of curiosity, and he recognized me, remembering me from the bike shop I used to own, and the bike club we started.

It was just so surreal, that after all this time we would meet again, and just when we were planning a trip to Argentina this coming winter.

Comments

Susan C said…
What a great story! Is Alex still buff and biking, 20 years later?
Marc said…
I know. Yeah, he's still buffed, and doesn't look much older than he did 24 years ago, but he's not doing any riding. He even said he sold his bike.

I got his number though, and a bike that will likely fit, so he can give it a try again.

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