I've always wondered what exactly people mean when they say they "feel more at one" with the bike if it is a fixed gear. I've always suspected this was bogus, but then I though riding fixed on the road was bogus, too, until I first tried it some 15 years ago.
I used to run -- there was a 10 year gap from the time I left for college and had to sell my bicycle through graduate school during which I ran regularly and cycled only occasionally. When running, on a good day I would feel "in the groove," meaning simply that everything related to running was at an optimum: lungs, heart, muscles, ankles, and also surface, wind and temperature and the fit and feel of the shoes; all as good as could be so that you felt light, energetic and, while you are working hard, you are not working painfully but pleasurably. I feel this even more with cycling and most of all on the Rivendells. This morning's ride felt this way, and I was analyzing the feeling as I rode. It was cool, 70F at 1 pm MDST, with winds from the west at 21 gusting to 26. I did 23 miles, headwind uphill, tailwind down, on the gofast, taking a detour on the way home to get a bit more climbing in. So I was analyzing this and finally decided that "all coming together" is an ideal combination of body (cardio, muscles, joints) and bike (much more a tool, like a saw or a guitar, than a machine, like a motorbike). That is, a close-enough-to-perfect combination of the way your body fits on the bike for both comfort and power: saddle at the right height and at the right setback; cranks the ideal Q; gearing optimum for your cadence and fitness; bar height and fore/aft just right: all of this so that the bike does not in any way impede your effort. Ditto for clothing: I wear street shorts but cycling jerseys because while I dislike clingy clothing, I prefer snug tops (with pockets) to flapping shirts whose tails pull out. Ditto, shoes and pedals: I like the large platform and stability of Looks better than I like SPDs. Gearing in particular: a gear that lets you spin slowly enough on the flats at cruising speed but that is low enough that hills are an enjoyable challenge instead of a misery. The upshot is that you really do feel at one with the bike: it doesn't impede you in any way but makes the most of your effort -- as my brother put it, it is essentially the feeling of efficient motion. Now this obviously applies just as well to multispeed bikes, but riding ss and especially fixed requires more "at one ness" because not only does the bike conform to your effort but you are required to conform your efforts more to the bike, a conformity that, from being deliberate, becomes habitual with experience. Thus when climbing you naturally (with experience) pace yourself to the bike to a degree that you would not if your experience were only with multiple gears. DItto for riding into the wind: getting into the hooks and "holding back" patiently instead of angrily trying to force the cadence: all a matter of adapting to the bike as it adapted to you. So, the upshot is that, at least for me, the greatest pleasure of riding isn’t the wind in your face or the scenery or your final average or your time up that hill – tho’ all these play a part; it is the feeling of fit that makes the bike perfectly adapted to your effort, and a habitual variation of effort and technique, efficiency perfectly adapted to the bike/conditions, a mutual adaptation that makes the best of both. That to me is the really delightful thing about cycling. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
