until the bicycles begin to pedal themselves, THEY ARE ALL THE SAME. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! e-RICHIE
On Fri, 15 Feb 2002 15:51:58 -0500 "garth libre"
<rabbitman@mindspring.com> writes:
> Friday is my day off (and Saturday), so I wake up early to ride with
> the road junkies who must put in their mandatory 30 training miles
> before work. On Key Biscayne at 7:00 am you meet a lot of
> interesting characters. I am hiding behind a tree trying to take a
> furtive wizz, when along comes a small contingent of riders (8 or
> 9). I rush to chase them down and finally I do. In this group is
> the very lovely and very strong Susan on her late model Cologno.
> Also in this group is a man claiming to have been a Cuban National
> cycling champ in 1954. He is riding some brand new aluminumb
> something or other Giant. His riding partner is riding an Eddy
> Merckx mid 80's steel lugged bike that has been tortured with a
> carbon fiber fork and Sti shifters. Susan says " thank god you got
> rid of that silly fork and the those shifters on the frame".
> What???? Did this guy suddenly get faster, just because his ride now
> sports a carbon fiber fork, and a different method of shifting? Give
> me a break!
>
> Well we are tooling along at a fair pace, and I am right along with
> the pace even though with my downtube shifters and steel fork, in
> their minds I might as well be dragging a boat anchor behind me.
> Full race pace going up the overpass is 18 to 20 mph, and I must
> admit that I have never been able to keep up with the early morning
> fast training ride that always is in that range. But today I am so
> pissed off that I look down and see that we are taking the bridge at
> 18 plus mph, and I feel today that I could, and should go for a
> breakaway sprint and drop this pack of high tech sprocket jockeys.
> Better judgment prevails, as I realize that no matter what speed I
> hit (21-- 22 etc) up this hill, someone faster and younger, probably
> riding a Titanium Litespeed, will take the challenge and one better
> me. I hold back, but wonder why when we crest that no one goes into
> shock to see that me and my antiquated steed are still with the
> group.
>
> Later in the morning, a rider and local shop owner remarks that I
> would be so much faster with the advantages of modern technology.
> "Modern frames, gearing, brakes, shifting, wheels etc etc etc.....
> Blah blahblah ablah....... so much better, faster, more blah for the
> buck..... reliability and blah ."
>
> Am I living in the twilight zone? Did the pod people come and take
> over, while I slept? Why do people believe all this blah without
> question? Ben Franklin said :" If everyone thought the same, No one
> would be thinking." Is it like this everywhere in the country? Is
> California any different? Garth Libre in Pod people land in So.
> Florida.