Magpie Entertainment

During training weekend, one of my teammates, who is British, tells me about an English superstition about the Magpie bird. If you see one Magpie, it's considered back luck. If you see two, you'll have lots of joy. And then there's a clever rhyme about how you get exponential luck with each additional Mapgie you see. But it's the solo Magpie you have to watch out for. So to combat the impending doom, you have to say this:

"Good morning, Mr. Magpie. How is Mrs. Magpie this morning?"

We all find this lovely, charming, clever, and British, as we are sitting around the campfire. A Magpie lands near by, and Emma starts to say it, but then another Magpie comes along and blesses all with good luck. We all laugh at how silly she is to believe in the superstition.

That was all well and good around the campfire. But the next day, while I'm struggling on the bike ride, envisioning crashes, failing breaks and what not, I see a Magpie fly by. I quickly mutter the phrase. What's the harm?

But then, I see another one by itself about 5 minutes later. I say the phrase. And what do you think I see every freakin' 10 minutes thereafter?! That's right - a Magpie. Seriously, there are Magpies up and down the roads in these part of California. Probably the densest population of these birds in the U.S., maybe even anywhere. And these particular birds actually like to be loners. Or, they saw me coming and would fly out one by one to torture me. Not a pair in site. So for the next two hours I am basically chanting:

"Good morning, Mr. Magpie. How is Mrs. Magpie this morning?"

Of course, towards the end it turns in to:

"Hey Mr. Freakin' Magie. How's the stupid wife? And why don't you get a friend, you loser?"