This is a shameless attempt to save the the most advanced civilization in
history from imminent self destruction by eliminating carbon emission,
dependence on foreign sources of fuel,obesity, hypertension and diabetes.
Cycling accomplishes all those things at once and helps us develop a better
understanding of ourselves, each other and our relationship to the cosmos.

Oh, horse puckey!
I like to ride bikes, have been doing it all my life.
The rest of that crap is just a fringe benefit,
and the blogosphere gives me a chance to share my interior
monologue with virtual rather than imaginary friends.

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

unseasonally cool and beautiful

The little cold snap we have experienced has produced some weather that is great for cycling.
My friend Paul, who is about as burdened an productive as I am, contacted me to take a ride today.
The plan was to ride another Rusa route for him to document, he wanted another 200k route under his belt and I told him I would take 1/2 of that, but he was on his own with the rest.
Today, he unveiled his latest step forward.  Not only a recumbent but a Carbon Fiber Bottechia.
It's a real piece of work, Dura Ace hubs and FSA components built onto a CF boom, it weighs 22 lbs.
That is like totally ridiculous for a recumbent, but it's only that heavy because he didn't opt for the CF seat.
22 lbs!  I felt like a serious retro grouch on the Sam, but then he took a huge step over the Dark Side.
Being one of those guys who is not noted for his speed, he was hoping to keep up with me.
Yeah, keep up with me who lives by the Surly mantra:
"We don't advocate racing, or even trying hard!"

It's about as minimalistic as a bike can get.  The one thing that stands out is that both wheels are 700c
an oddity of design which just makes sense.
As I said it was a perfectly beautiful day rolling across the Michigan country side,
temps ranged between 40 at the start and got up to the mid-sixties.
There was only a short period of 10 miles or so when we were fighting a 5-7 mph wind.
It was funny, Paul had to ask me what I thought the wind was doing, he really couldn't tell from his position and the wind was so light.
"What, you just bought the latest/greatest thing in CF recumbent technology,
and you don't have an App for that?"
He keeps more tech stuff on his handlebars than I have in my house.
The ride was an easy 73 miles for me, it felt good not to be drenched with sweat and feeling dehydrated.
During the first half, by my crude reckoning, (distance divided by time on the bike) we were between 13 and 14 mph for an average.  He kept up quite handily the whole time, which is an improvement.  He would have been struggling to do that on his road bike.
On the way back home, I got the feeling of a little childish warmth while waiting for a train.
Not just any train.  The circus has come to town!
Posted by Marc at 5:48 PM
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