Fast Girls
There are what some folks call “fast girls:”
And then there are fast girls:
Apparently I’m the latter. And I feel bad sometimes because I really don’t mean any harm.
But when the weather is good and I’m in a groove I get carried away. And then I go very fast.
Okay. I laughed at the last Tandem comment pretty hard. But I’ve been in the latter situation, as a dude. I wanna ride faster, but I keep it slow cause it’s a date.
Then again, I’ve definitely been outpaced by a girl I was hanging out with before. But never on a date. I’m obviously choosing the wrong girls. 🙁
Would it be out of order if I suggested the obvious – that maybe you and Bikeyface should get together, leaving your respective dates to pedal slowly off into the sunset together?
Tee-hee. I think this cartoon points out one of the ironies of bicycle transportation these days, though: people who think of themselves as “slow” cyclists, transportation cyclists only, no drop bars, no lycra…will often end up as pretty fast cyclists, without meaning to — when you ride every day, in all weather, especially when you’re used to carrying lots of extra cargo weight, you actually get pretty good at it. I went for a spontaneous ride with a couple of mostly-recreational cyclists the other day; they were on road bikes with no cargo and I was on my Raleigh 3-speed with Wald baskets and at least 20 pounds of books and computer, and I was totally fine; when we switched bikes, they couldn’t keep up with me. Not that I’m competitive…
@Zev: Your comment about transportation cyclist and gear is spot-on. All my friends are transportation cyclists, but with varying levels of sportiness. I don’t race cyclocross or go very fast at all on my commute, but I’ve spent 3 years commuting 20 miles a day on a loaded xtracycle cargo bike. Usually I’m at the back of the pack on a group loaded bike camping ride, but a year ago we had a group 90-mile tour as part of a wedding…but it was SUPPORTED. Which meant I was carrying nothing. I was at the front of the pack the entire day, liberated by riding a ROAD BIKE with NO WEIGHT. What a weird switch.
Brian:
I think you’re on to something. I’m also a transportationist commuter (18 mi rt) with a heavy load strapped onto ancient and, I’m told, heavy 3 speeds. This past weekend I led a group ride, astride my 61 year-old Raleigh. I tried to go somewhat slowly but no matter what I did the group trailed me. Part of it might be the bike (and my maintenance): on downhills with absolutely no pedaling I rolled far ahead of the group.
I get in trouble when riding with friends because I do this too and then everyone thinks I’m mad and riding off in a huff. We can chat later, I gotta ride!
My beard! I never thought of that excuse. Thanks!
Love the totally manic expression 🙂