"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
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
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
