what thrilling about cycling?

BW said:

I was searching through some past articles trying to answer the above question and came across
someone who wrote this:

"I hit 50 mph on the descent just after Vandenburg Grade! And surely I remember the thrill
too!....... Now, and only now, fear creeps in, 12 days after the thrill... But it was *fun*!"

50mph is for wussies ;-) I've heard a claimed 72mph down a particular hill - my PB there is a
pathetic 57mph, because I caught up with a car before I reached terminal velocity.

Slipstreaming buses is much more fun, because you have the added risk of knowing that the driver
will probably stamp on the brakes and remove you from the gene pool if he finds out...

RE/

Quoted message said:

It explains the exhilaration of speed, flanked by danger. But I suspect that's only one tiny
example of how you can be thrilled with 2 wheels. What about when you rode for the first time
without stabilisers, or were winning a race, or bought that amazing bike, or saw an attractive
cyclist in lycra wink at you...

Personally, "thrill" and "danger" don't mix with me.

Danger ==> Fear, which cancels "thrill".

I know a lot of people who get off on the danger element and it mystifies me. Seems like there's
plenty danger out there without anybody seeking it out.
--
PeteCresswell

Thrilling? I remember the thrill of riding 25 miles without a break. Thrill is the feeling you have
when you see the finish line of your first century. Speeding down hills, wheel to wheel with a group
of new-found friends at 50+ mph. The thrill of topping a rise in the Sierra Nevada mountains (or any
other place of splendor) and feeling the cool breeze, the sun in your face and the awesome view
seemingly unparalelled on the planet. And the biggest thrill: you did all of that on a bicycle,
something to which less than one percent of Americans can lay claim.

Hope this is the type of input you are seeking.

-Exploring the country gravel roads of Sioux County Iowa on a balloon tire Columbia in 1947.

-Riding the long, slow, panoramic descent off Salsbury Pass
to the -200 foot floor of Death Valley......spectacular.

-Tailgating a sports car down Carson Pass at 52 mph.

-Gliding through the cathedral-like Avenue of the Giants (redwoods) in N. Calif.

-Riding the rollers of the Big Sur Coastline.

-The camaraderie of fellow riders from other places one meets in Oregon and Calif campgrounds when
doing loaded tours down Pacific Coast.

-Hitting a rock at 20 mph on Sacramento River levee, launching over handlebars, somersaulting, and
landing on back unhurt in bushes.

-Clipping your partner's rear wheel, going down hard and breaking some ribs (Yes, that instant just
before hitting the hard ground is a thrill.)

-Riding all-out in pace line with faster, younger riders till you think your heart will burst.

-Breaking one's century time record.

-Finally completing a double century in which one actually feels good at the end.

In article said:

I'm a researcher from the Royal College of Art in England and I'd really like to know about your 2
wheel related thrills.

A year or two ago, a driver on Vancouver Island drove off the highway and over an embankment. He was
stuck there, injured and unable to extracate himself from his wreckage, and was out of view of the
nearby traffic. A passing cyclist was able to hear his cries for help over the noise of the traffic,
and got the driver rescued. Now, that's not my own personal thrill, but it goes to show how cycling
can be thrilling in all sorts of surprising, positive ways. And I guess it's thrilling to hear of
how a fellow rider was able to help somebody /because/ he was cycling. It's thrilling to realize
cyclists are valuable.

cheers, Tom

--
-- Powered by FreeBSD Above address is just a spam midden. I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn
[point] bc [point] ca

The first time I outsprinted my father at the top of a hill. I had been trying to beat him in - any
- sport for a long time, and finally found something I could beat him at.

-Sonarrat.

Besides many of the other suggestions:

Reaching the point in a long, well-supported century when I'm well-fed and well-hydrated, when the
aerobic metabolism kicks into high gear and I fly down the road at a steady 25 mph or faster. Those
numbers can't be right, can they?

Feeling the benefits of six weeks of hard slogging as I do the same rides faster. I feel good, all
of a sudden. Funny how that works.

Reaching the end of a race with the lead group, sprinting, then looking back to see 25 yards of
empty road behind me. (Haven't done that this millenium.:-)

Successfully attacking any climb. Feeling the power flow through the legs and accelerating UP the
hill. I'm a frickin' F-15, man!

Having climbed 3000 feet on a well-known, well-maintained local trail, surveying the world below me,
then flowing down the empty stretches like water.

--
--
Lynn Wallace xmission.com~lawallOpen ↗ "I'm not proud. We really haven't done everything we
could to protect our customers. Our products just aren't engineered for security." --Microsoft VP in
charge of Windows OS Development, Brian Valentine.

Quoted message said:

I'm a frickin' F-15, man!

No you aren't. You are a slow, acceleration challenged unarmored vehicle. Don't ever forget it.

--

_______________________ALL AMIGA IN MY MIND_______________________ ------------------"Buddy Holly,
the Texas Elvis"------------------
__________306.350.357.38>>[email hidden]__________

In article said:

Quoted message said:

I'm a frickin' F-15, man!

No you aren't. You are a slow, acceleration challenged unarmored vehicle. Don't ever forget it.

I like to think of bicycles as "land canoes". In fact, when I think about it, I find the analogy
quite apropos.

cheers, Tom

--
-- Powered by FreeBSD Above address is just a spam midden. I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn
[point] bc [point] ca

(Pete Cresswell) said:

RE/

Quoted message said:

It explains the exhilaration of speed, flanked by danger. But I suspect that's only one tiny
example of how you can be thrilled with 2 wheels. What about when you rode for the first time
without stabilisers, or were winning a race, or bought that amazing bike, or saw an attractive
cyclist in lycra wink at you...

Personally, "thrill" and "danger" don't mix with me.

Danger ==> Fear, which cancels "thrill".

I know a lot of people who get off on the danger element and it mystifies me. Seems like there's
plenty danger out there without anybody seeking it out.

I think it's the evasion of danger that's the thrill. It must be time for the obligatory Hunter S.
Thompson quote: "Faster, faster, until the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death." OTOH, just
to keep us honest, The Sausage Creature is always waiting.

Most memorable "thrill" was passing a truck on a downhill dirt road and just making it with inches
to spare when he inexplicably swung over toward the left edge. Motorcycle, of course. I can't
remember a thrill on a bicycle :-(

--
Cheers, Bev
-------------------------------------------------------------
"We've got some stupid people out there. This morning, I woke
up in a bathtub filled with ice and I had an extra kidney."

"The Real Bev" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I can't remember a thrill on a bicycle :-(

Dumbass -

maybe you're in the wrong newsgroup.

[email hidden] (Tom Keats) wrote in :"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

I like to think of bicycles as "land canoes".

Land canoes...jeeze you must have a boring childhood.

In article said:

I like to think of bicycles as "land canoes".

Hey Mike L. -- of course I had a boring childhood. I'm just a born-in-the-'50s canadian.

cheers, Tom

PS: did you really want follow-ups sent straight to you?

--
-- Powered by FreeBSD Above address is just a spam midden. I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn
[point] bc [point] ca

Having a car turn left in front of me, the ~20's female passenger leaning out

cackling in the front seat, was exciting. It became a "thrill" when the Highway Patrol parked at the
curb looked me in the face, shook his head, fired up the car, hung a u-turn and rocketed up the
road, lights a-flashing.

Beyond that, things like catching and passing cars when going down a hill would be "exciting", or
catching and passing a group of cyclists who had passed and dropped me earlier on a long climb
would be "satisfying", but "thrilling" isn't a word that I ordinarily associate with bicycles.

--
tanx, Howard

"We've reached a higher spiritual plane, that is so high I can't explain We tell jokes to make you
laugh, we play sports so we don't get fat..." The Dictators

remove YOUR SHOES to reply, ok?

Eric S. Sande said:

Quoted message said:

I'm a frickin' F-15, man!

No you aren't. You are a slow, acceleration challenged unarmored vehicle. Don't ever forget it.

A man can dream, can't I?

--
--
Lynn Wallace xmission.com~lawallOpen ↗ "I'm not proud. We really haven't done everything we
could to protect our customers. Our products just aren't engineered for security." --Microsoft VP in
charge of Windows OS Development, Brian Valentine.

In rec.bicycles.tech Kurgan Gringioni <[email hidden]> wrote:

: "The Real Bev" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

:>I can't remember a thrill on a bicycle :-(

: Dumbass -

: maybe you're in the wrong newsgroup.

That's not nice.

--------------------------------
Bob Masse' [email hidden]
--------------------------------

"Howard Kveck" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Having a car turn left in front of me, the ~20's female passenger

leaning out

mom

Quoted message said:

cackling in the front seat, was exciting. It became a "thrill" when the

Highway

Quoted message said:

Patrol parked at the curb looked me in the face, shook his head, fired up

the

Quoted message said:

car, hung a u-turn and rocketed up the road, lights a-flashing.

I have always wanted to witness something like that. How cool!

<[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In rec.bicycles.tech Kurgan Gringioni

Quoted message said:

: "The Real Bev" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

:>I can't remember a thrill on a bicycle :-(

: Dumbass -

: maybe you're in the wrong newsgroup.

4, to be precise.

Quoted message said:

That's not nice.

--------------------------------
Bob Masse' [email hidden]
--------------------------------

The biggest "thrill" in cycling is that moment after you realize you're going to wreck, but before
you actually wreck. This is true for both mountain and road. That's the biggest adrenalin shot.

Robert