Boastful Arrogance And Inevitable Demise

I wrote recently how a friend of mine is trying to organize (via email) a ride to the Tail Of The Dragon. 

I wrote back in my own self-deprecating way, that I wasn't well suited for riding the "Tail Of The Dragon", and would be more suited for a road called "Tail Of The Shetland Pony."

D wrote back that he wasn't planning to ride aggressively.  B joined the chorus, and said he planned to ride conservatively as well.

Both friends are very capable riders -- certainly more experienced and faster than me.  Both had nothing to prove.  Both could easily ride circles around me. 

Then C chimed in ... voicing a dissenting opinion.  He called all of us who advocated riding conservatively "A bunch of pussies", and proceeded to tell us how he was going to "tear up the dragon" and "set a speed record."

Now, when I hear a rider boasting about their riding abilities, I am immediately suspect.  D and B are both extremely competent riders - the quiet, unassuming types who are confident in their own abilities and don't need to convince anyone else of their riding abilities.

If C really is the rider he says he is, why would C find the need to brag?  Why would he find the need to insult the older and wiser of us who plan to show some restraint?

I wanted to tell him cautionary tales - of how the aggressiveness of the ride should decrease the farther you are from home.  About how there are plenty of fools who think they can take on the Dragon, and who end up cracking their bikes up along the way.  This stuff is fodder (and a source of income) for the folks at www.killboy.com  The broken bits of bikes from the likes of him adorn the famous "Tree Of Shame" at Deals Gap. 

But once he's called me a "Pussy", there's nothing I can say, short of entering a boasting competition, that will work.  Certainly no "voice of reason" apologetics will convince him.

Sigh. 

Oh well, if I'm right and his bravado is compensating for certain inadequacies in his, er, riding abilities ... then nothing I say will change his tune.  If I'm wrong, and he really is as good as he says, then nothing I say will matter.

If the legendary trip to "Tail Of The Dragon" happens, we'll see what happens.