A few weeks ago I rode my bike to work as usual. A man tried to cycle behind me, probably wanting to use my slipstream. He caught up again at the traffic light. We stood next to each other. The traffic light turned green and we continued. At the next traffic light stop, he could no longer contain himself: “Boy, boy, you’ve left Grandpa behind quite a bit. I wouldn’t have thought so.” He said it so confidently that I took a detour to work to think about it—and shake it off. Why does a man approaching 60 assume he is better off than a much younger woman?
I don’t only encounter this phenomenon on the bike. Men keep telling me about their running sessions, training plans and bike tours. Or about why they can’t walk right now: Achilles tendon, knee. Without being asked, Holger, in his fine suit trousers, begins to tell me how he recently improved his time. In the bouldering hall, too, I find out how Mandelmilchmarco trains his body stability. I then nod and say little. I usually try to be understanding. Of course not everyone is like that. Some also report that they don’t go to the gym enough at the moment or used to row but can’t do it anymore.
