lørdag, maj 06, 2006

Information in this post may change your perception of the world

But then again, it probably won't.

The other day, I found out an amazing fact. Did you know that if the tires on your bike have enough air in them, then the bike actually goes faster? This may be old news to you, but it was a revelation to me. I had attributed my slow speed in recent times to being out of shape from a few months of not so much riding, and when I then also noticed my tires were a bit low, I didn't really see a connection. But then, I got the tire levels back to where they should be, and...

  • My trip to school, before taking around an hour and 25 minutes, now takes just over an hour and 5 minutes.

  • The class I teach way out in a far distant suburb, before an hour and 30 minute ride from from my apartment, is now an hour and 10 minutes away.

  • Going in to town, before taking somewhat over an hour, now takes somewhat under an hour.


  • So the formula is, the more air in the tires, the faster the bike. This logically means that if I put enough air in my tires, I should end up with a kind of teleporter almost. The trip to work, maybe 30 seconds. I shouldn't need to buy plane tickets to go to Lisbon in July or Chengdu in August, but just put lots and lots of air in my bicycle tires, and then ride there in an hour or two. If I could find a way to bicycle over water, I could bike to see my family in California at the weekends, or meet friends in London for a quick coffee. I could go have dinner at all of your houses, wherever you are.

    So, now I'm just patiently waiting for someone to invent a bicycle tire that can handle that much air.

    17 kommentarer:

    theblackscorpio sagde ...

    :D

    I have teh Transmetropolitan Air Jesus sneakers, do you think, it works the same way with those? I. e. pump more air into the soles and I can not only walk on water, but walk faster on water?

    kimananda sagde ...

    Tee-hee! :-)

    You are funny...and you are procrastinating, just like me!

    alfaqeer sagde ...

    Hey, if someone does invent that, be sure to tell me yea? :)

    FRIDAY'S CHILD sagde ...

    But don't overdo it or else......
    poof.

    Unknown sagde ...

    I like to get out bikeing around in Foreat Park.

    theblackscorpio sagde ...

    *grin*

    This, and my icon licks you :D

    I also setted up the Mother of procrastination:
    My Bloglines
    Along with my del.icio.us "short term memory" :)

    Devil Mood sagde ...

    That's great! :)
    You'll be flying from now on. I miss riding a bike, mine has a flat tire that needs to be replaced.

    Unknown sagde ...

    i'm designing one, you can just place the advance order for the first 100 customer. we'll be ready very soon, for select customers only.
    any color preference?

    HanktheDog sagde ...

    That's a fun post. The more air, the less friction of rubber on road. So, what you really need is a bike that operates like those levitating trains. A maglev bike. So easy to conceive of. Now all we have to do is create it.

    mary bishop sagde ...

    I guess air in the tires of a bike is like thyroid hormone levels in a human.

    I can't imagine biking for an hour --even when I have my Lance Armstrong dreams...(he should have been named Lance Legstrong)...

    I love alaswad's kitty licks..which is a complete non sequitur, but the avatar is moving in my peripheral vision and I am drawn to it -- a simple but mesmerizing animation.

    Anyhow...I shall seque to the Segway. Are there many Segways in Denmark? I want one so badly.

    kimananda sagde ...

    Socialpest, thanks for visiting, and I definitely will...and thanks for the letter...it'll be my next post. :-)

    Friday's Child, thanks for your visit! Actually, I'm quite afraid of overinflating my bicycle tires in real life. Even though I hardly have the arm strength for that to ever happen.

    JackT, thanks for visiting, and thank you for those words of truth! The beauty is that using the bike will uninflate the rear.

    Day, 20 minutes is a lot! I ride more because it takes me that long to get where I need to go (and Denmark being fairly flat helps a lot), but even a few minutes gives benefits.

    David, thanks for your visit. It's wonderful to ride in beautiful places...most of the roads I use to get places are ring roads and motorways, so the view is not always the best.

    Alaswad, your profile icon is very, very cool. Now, I'm off to get a towel to wipe the cat saliva off of my chin. ;-)

    Ms. Mood, get it fixed, and enjoy that sunshine...but aren't there a lot of hills in Porto? I can ride for hours (well, maybe 2, then my body rebels) if it's flat enough, and about 3 seconds on hills!

    Treespotter, yes! I'd like to order two if that's possible, for me and the boyfriend. I'll choose charcoal grey for mine, and red for his. Thanks for visiting and giving me this amazing opportunity!

    Hank, it sounds so simple when you put it like that. If only it was in reality....

    Mary, biking for an hour is not a big deal if you don't have to worry about too many hills. The first time I went somewhere more than an hour away (in rain and a lot of wind, I might add), I felt like I was going to die afterwards, but after a couple of times, it's actually quite straightforward. And I totally agree with you about Ms. Black Scorpio (now known as alaswad) and her icon. Pure cool, and very distracting. And I've never seen a Segway here in Denmark. Have you ever tried one?

    Jack, the way into town is on a bit of a downward slop, so perhaps I'll start bringing little bits of stuff into town, so that it's a bit downhill both ways! Sort of like nesting, but more in the long-term....

    Maddy, yep, I can see you doing that! And I hope you enjoyed your ride! :-)

    Meow (aka Connie) sagde ...

    Hmmm, must go and put the maximum amount of air in my bike tyres, and go for a ride. Thanks for the inspiration.
    Take care, Meow

    Devil Mood sagde ...

    Yes, and especially in this area where I live, it's impossible to ride a bike (if you're sane, at least)...I'd have to go to the park.

    kimananda sagde ...

    Meow, have a good ride! :-)

    Ms. Mood, parks are good! But I must confess, if I didn't use my bike to actually get places, I'd probably never ride it. I'm into the whole exercise and commute at the same time thing.

    kimananda sagde ...

    Mr. American, it was pretty amazing actually. I wouldn't have been quite so surprised with just a slight decrease in time, but yeah...and the ride is just generally easier as well.

    Sangroncito, you should...but I'd never ride in SF...too hilly, and cars have no idea that they should pay attention to cyclists, too. Here there are lots of nice bike lanes, and cars usually know that the bikes are there.

    Helen, I will definitely let you know! :-)

    Anonym sagde ...

    I did know it made a dif. but didn't know it could make that big of difference. Think I'll put pumping up my tires on my to-do list for today.

    kimananda sagde ...

    Pearl, I was quite shocked as well...but my tires were very flat. Presumably, the effect was so big because I had put off putting air in the tires for so long.