"Howard" <bishop(1199bitshiftleft1)@yazhooz.com> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:Speed is relative. I'm not convinced everything else is. But speed is.
The slowest Trabant is faster than me on a a really good day.
You are right that speed is relative. A turtle is quite fast compared to a
slug or a snail. However, other things are also relative. When it comes to
human behavior, the biggest relativity issue is age. Age has to do with the
number of years you have spent on this planet above ground.
Quoted message said:However, within the constraints of the system, age, physics, and all
that, I find that I am still somewhat drawn to the call of speed. I'm
not in my 20's any more, and I'd like to think I have the larger part of
my ego under control. I don't mind riding at whatever pace the group I'm
with chooses.
When you are in your 60's and 70's you will realize that speeed is for the
young. Instead, you will be thankful if you can just get out of bed in the
morning and trundle yourself over to the breakfast table in order to get a
bit of nouirishment so that you can do the same thing all over the next day.
Yea! Life is good - and do not let anyone ever tell you otherwise! What the
[censored] does speed have to do with anything?
Quoted message said:So what is it.
First there is the challenge. Like the old joke about how if it had been
intended that man should fly, he'd have been given the brains to invent
the airplane, I want to see how "clean" I can make my bike. I want to
see how much power I can get out of my engine, and I want to see how
efficiently I can use that power. I want to see; I want to try.
No, all that challenge [censored] is for the young who are still trying to find
themselves. If and when you ever get to be over 40, you will just want to be
able to breath in and out and move about however slowly. The main thing is
to stay out of the grave for as long as possible.Because when you are dead,
you are dead for all eternity. Every fool who has ever lived knows this if
he does not ever know anything else.
Quoted message said:Note to the novice: power is not technique is not knowledge. It is the
challenge of applying skill - and brains - that appeals to me.
Screw the challenge! Most people go to the airport and get on a jet airplane
if they want to experience power. The take-offs are especially invigorating.
Quoted message said:Second, there is the world, my world. My time for riding is squeezed
between other more important things. I don't mind this, but every mile
per hour I gain, expands my world by a couple miles in the morning before
work.
Too slow and I am limited to one road. All the time. This is dull and
unrewarding.
Try going slower and slower. You will live longer and see some flowers along
the way. There is nothing duller and more unrewarding in this world than to
speed through it and not see anything except your own computer telliing you
how fast you are going. Again, you have got to learn to screw this speed
thing. It is total insanity.
Look at all the [censored] on this newsgroup who are into speed. They prove
everytime they post a message about how [censored] fast they are that they do
not have the brains they were born with. What gets said here on ARBR with
respect to speed should be an object lesson to us all.
Quoted message said:Not many think of touring as a race, but it is. The day will end, and
3mph might be the difference between a sleeping bag in a corn field
eating backup rations and a hot shower with a phone call home. Climb a
pass in the Rockies during monsoon season, and the loss of 1-2mph might
have significant consequences. Do you really want to be on the top of
Loveland Pass when the afternoon T-storm shows up? Me neither, not
again.
Even on my commute, 1-2mph allows me to take an alternate route, maybe
with less traffic, maybe along the river in the park, or maybe it makes
running errands on the other side of town a real possibility instead of
merely a theoretical one.
Howard, you are completely insane! You know that don't you? A tour is never
a race. It is the furthest thing from it. Howard, you are completely insane!
You know that don't you?
My best advice to you is just to stay home and do not even think about going
out on the road. Surely there are things you can do in your own home that
will not drive you as crazy as you have become from cycling. If you must
ride your bike, maybe a quick turn or two about your neighborhood will
suffice. More than that and you go nuts!
Quoted message said:For some of us non-racers there is a legitimacy to the quest for speed.
It changes my view of the world; it allows me to more fully enjoy my
stolen moments outdoors. It feeds my curiosity, it drives me to eat
better, to exercise smarter, to treat my "engine" more kindly. Can these
be bad things?
See my paragraph just above. I can only add that you should definitely see a
psychiatrist about your obsession with speed.on a bicycle.
The moral of the story here is that cycling is not a suitable activity for
everyone as it apparently can drive you crazy with the lust for speed.
Howard is a pitiful case indeed and I do feel sorry for him. He knows not
what he knows not. But worse than that, he is trying to convert us sane and
sensible folk to his cockeyed view. It is a good thing that I am here to set
all of you straight.
--
Ed Dolan - Minnesota
