In general, the bicycle is seen as an Earth-friendly mode of transportation. Of all the types of bike riding, road bikes are probably the least ecologically sustaining:
- Most road bikers drive, with the bikes, to a start point;
- Road bikes are frequently upgraded or replaced, meaning that parts are often thrown out (or stored in the back of the garage, to be used on that "project bike" that's probably never really going to happen);
- And road bikers generally are not using the bikes for transportation, except in the broadest sense; we are, instead, using the bikes for exercise and fun. We don’t use the bikes to do anything other than ride; the only place we ‘go’, frequently, is ultimately back to our starting point, without having done anything in the meantime except stopped for coffee, perhaps, or a scenic view… or perhaps, a new, higher number on the speedometer.
It could be argued, however, that road bicyclists are the purest lovers of the machines. We don’t use them for anything else other than the love of the ride. And we use the bikes in a way that only bikes can be used. The downhill riders might as well be skiing, and it could be argued that a mountain biker is on a modified hike. But a roadie is using the bike to transfer human energy directly into speed. I think it’s the most like flying that a human can experience without the assistance of an engine. It takes effort, of course, and it takes more effort to get higher up. But I’ve noticed that birds, especially large ones, have to put in effort. In fact, when driving up to a gaggle of geese in the road, notice that instead of taking wing and flying safely away, the geese will attempt to waddle out of the way of the car (and sometimes they are hit in the process). It suggests they can’t just fly easily away.
On a well-tuned road bike, a flat ride is a winged glide. And after pumping up to the top of a hill, the subsequent, sometimes terrifying descent is nearly a hawk’s stoop from the sky.
Road bikes are an unusual combination of old & new technologies. Barring the Shimano electronic-shifting Di2 system, the mechanical technology, with the possible exception of the doin’s inside the shifters themselves, would be intelligible to any reasonably mechanical person alive in the last 500 years: gears and chains, cables and springs, squeeze brakes. It was thought that Leonardo da Vinci had scribbled a doodle of the first bicycle, although that has since been discredited.
At the same time, modern road bikes often incorporate the latest in materials technology. My bike is a tad behind the fashion, but the frame is made of a titanium alloy, the front fork is made of a steel alloy that has proven long-lasting and effective for bicycles, there is space-age carbon-fiber in my shifters – even the leather of the saddle has been treated to make it weather-resistant. The tires themselves incorporate aramid fibers, similar to the Kevlar in bullet-proof vests, so that they resist puncture (no small thing in a high-pressure, thin-wall tire) and so that they can be folded. The bead, the part that fits inside the wheel rim, on your car tire is some kind of metal; you can’t fold that for travel!
Even those silly looks-like-a-superhero-in-training outfits we wear have a purpose. The tight clothes help with evaporation of perspiration, helping to keep us cool; the tight shorts also reduce chafing. (I’ve heard they’re usually black because it gives you a place to wipe your greasy fingers after a repair, and also because the black dye on the old saddles would transfer to them on wet, sweaty rides… but I think they’re black partly because they disguise the topography beneath. Ahem.) The jerseys are brightly colored partly to make us visible to drivers who aren’t looking for us. I generally eschew the busy team logos on my jerseys; them guys ain’t payin’ me to ride for ‘em, so I ain’t gonna do their advertisin’ for ‘em… and I certainly ain’t gonna pay extra for the privilege (printed jerseys are almost always several times the cost of the plain, single-color ones I use). Pockets are on the backs of the jersey, because when you’re in that bent-over position, if your pocket were in front, your cell phone would be likely to either fall out of your pocket, or be causin’ some discomfort by diggin’ into the soft parts of your anatomy.
And riding is wicked fun. I've found it's fun alone, and it's also fun with a group of like-minded, similarly-dressed-and-supplied acquaintances, especially when you find the ones that have a level of competitiveness that complements your own.
So it’s not for everybody. But neither is skiing, tennis, or international finance.
No comments:
Post a Comment