There are certain things cyclists discuss openly.

Tire pressure. Heart rate. Watts. Nutrition. Saddle height. Whether someone really needed that new $9,000 bicycle.

And then there are the other things.

The Power Snot Bomb belongs firmly in the second category.

Riding alone, it's simple. Check the shoulder, clear the airway, and continue riding. No witnesses. No paperwork.

Riding with a friend requires greater sophistication. You must first determine wind direction, relative speed, and—most importantly—the location of your friend. A courteous cyclist provides adequate warning.

A very courteous cyclist waits until the friend is behind.

A former friend doesn't.

The paceline raises the maneuver to an entirely different level. When eight cyclists are separated by twelve inches at twenty miles per hour, the Power Snot Bomb becomes less a bodily function and more an exercise in fluid dynamics.

Experienced riders know the procedure: move slightly to the side, verify that nobody is overlapping your wheel, check the wind, and fire.

In the professional peloton, of course, this is simply another race skill. These riders can eat lunch, change clothes, adjust a derailleur, consult the team car and answer the call of nature without ever getting off the bicycle. Clearing a nostril at thirty miles per hour barely makes the highlight reel.

But regardless of experience, there is one immutable law of cycling:

Always check the wind.

Because sooner or later every cyclist discovers that Mother Nature has a sense of humor.

And sometimes she's riding directly behind you.