The Race

He challenged me.

There was nothing I could do.

Landon was the type of kid that would always try to one-up you. No matter what day of the year it was, he feels it was always “Landon’s Day”. For instance; one Christmas I was hoping to get a brand new bike. This was a major step up from the childish tricycle that I was currently riding. I was so happy on Christmas morning after receiving it that I felt somewhat invincible. As I started pedaling down my driveway, the melody of Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love” started to flow through my mind. To my disappointment, it was immediately interrupted by something gleaming in the distance. To no surprise, it was Landon; frantically pedaling his luxurious bike down the street in hope of ruining my Christmas. I thought everything was festive, until I noticed that I was operating plastic training wheels, while he was riding on rubber. Did he have to one-up me again?

Of course, he didn’t even have the decency to say, “Hey”or “Merry Christmas”.

Just a mere, “Wanna Race?”

I am more stubborn and competitive than most people. Plastic wheels or not; I was about to wax Landon Johnson off the road. The race was simple; we were racing from the first speed bump in our neighborhood to the last. We lined up at the starting point and gave each other the most hateful glares that adolescents could give.

As we stared, Jimmy Page’s guitar riff at the beginning of “Whole Lotta Love” proceeded to strum through my ears.

Da na na na na.

There was a streetlight visible from the starting point, so we were going to burn rubber (or melt plastic) when it turned green.

We were off.

There was no looking back, or backing down.

It was all on the table.

We started off neck and neck, but as the melody of “Whole Lotta Love” sped up, so did the pedals on my bike. I started to take a meager lead, but that was not enough.

I could still see him in my peripheral, but I wanted to embarrass him. I constantly continued to push those pedals with all my might. As soon as I considered slowing down, I saw the finish line.

I kept pedaling as hard as I could until I reached our destination.

All I could hear as I was flying over my handlebars was Robert Plant chanting, “Loooooovvvveee”. After landing, I got up and dusted off. Without any hesitation I hopped right up, looking around frantically. I was ready to rub my victory in Landon’s face.

As I my eyes locked with his, he looked puzzled.

The tune continued to play as I smiled and said, “Still wanna race?” He replied with, “No, you’re face is bleeding.”

He always had to ruin everything. Did he have to take away my glory as well?

I guess you could say I won that race. I’m sure that he feels that he won as well considering he walked away with no stitches. I will never forget the glorious feeling I felt as I glided across that finish line listening to my favorite tune.

That brief victorious moment compensated for any pain that I suffered on that Christmas morning.