Sometimes when I'm walking, I know I'm about to converge on the same point on the sidewalk as someone else. Usually, at the last moment, one person gets there a split second before the other. Very occasionally, both get there at the exact same time, and there's some footwork required to avoid a minor collision.

Today, my opponent was a pigeon. I could tell we're about to converge on the same point at an approximate 45 degree angle from each other. This is just an average -looking pigeon, not obviously on any sort of enhancement drugs, and even though it was pumping its bird feet at a good pace, I was still going faster. Unexpectedly, in the last couple of seconds, it put its little bird head down and started booking it. That's right. Today, I lost to a pigeon. A competitive, inner-city pigeon with a "kill or be killed" attitude. It was a very humbling experience.