We don't learn primarily from answers, knowledge or theories. Insight and wisdom is forged in the white heat of questions and experience, in the journey and on the road, not the office or the classroom.
"No matter how one may think himself accomplished, when he sets out to learn a new language, science, or the bicycle, he has entered a new realm as truly as if he were a child newly born into the world." ~Frances Willard, How I Learned to Ride the Bicycle.
I have a momentous decision to make, which will shape much. I must choose between the new, sexy, fast and sleek, and the honest, quirky, steady and practical. The tortoise and the hare, and we all know how that turned out. Yes, I must choose which bike to take to the Pyrenees with me. And you thought this was going to be an allegory?
You can't just walk on to a plane these days especially with a bike. It all has to be deconstructed and re-assembled at the other end, out of its hard black box. K-1 is in for a service so today I was on the Red Madone, doing a few hills into and back from work. And it was lovely, fast and fizzy, light on the ups, sticky round the corners. But I know my back is going to ache for it tomorrow in the car, I have a fair bit of driving to do in the day.
In any case, just as the wand chooses the wizard, the bike chooses the rider. Maybe.
K-1, equipped with new brakes, maybe a headset, bottom bracket, retains its basic character plus added improvements, well it seems the more attractive option at the moment. If he will have me that is, for he must be ready by Thursday next week, so I can do a test drive into work on Friday. So the choice is not entirely in my hands, but in those of a more skilled operator than that.
Just as I have never seen any problem made better by alcohol, I have never seen any situation not made better by the arrival of balloons. So as I descended from my second hill of the morning, from up above Ashton Court to the Cumberland basin area, it was a wonderful sight to see everyone looking up at the morning's flight from the fiesta.
"You could have flown away, a singing bird in an open cage"
The wind was pushing them right over the city, and everyone was looking up and smiling, kids pointing, old blokes chuckling and even hard-bitten business types were at their office windows and taking pictures with their mobile phones. Not the greatest picture in the world, but you get the idea. So ask yourself this question: compare and contrast the impact of balloons and alcoholic beverages in their contribution to the happiness of mankind.
The weather was warm and drizzly to start, but it dried off as I got into Bristol, and on the way home the sun came out just as I was coming down Dundry Hill into Winford. That doesn't happen every day.
Once in work I was faced with another choice. I got a load of free zipvit samples at the Eddy Merckx sportive so I took a couple with me. Compare and contrast the effectiveness as recovery food of a chewy zipvit bar with a bacon sandwich, in the modern workplace. No contest, the pig may be a filthy animal, it does not have character, but it sure tastes good.
The banana gel on the other hand is lovely, and came at the point where I was contemplating concluding my ride home via Sandford rather than Rowberrow, Shipham and Cheddar. Compare and contrast the training value of an extra 500 feet of climbing and a flat fight into the wind. Got to be the hill really, which created a nice dumbbell shape on the route profile:
http://ridewithgps.com/trips/352235
http://connect.garmin.com/player/105982574
Which just leaves me with the most profound question of all. Compare and contrast the features and benefits of Garmin Connect and Ride with GPS for illustrating your rides. That one, I'll leave you with.
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