Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Murphy's Law and Cyclists

So, Tuesday afternoon I went for a nice ride out 14th to Saltillo, then SW 12th and north to Pioneers Park. On the way home I took the path, and then had to merge with traffic to cross highway 2 because of the new traffic configuration at Van Dorn and highway 2 (the sidewalk on the south side of the intersection running east and west is no longer there).

As I head down Van Dorn and then up the hill towards the light at 13th street, it occurred to me that there are certain laws that govern our actions and behaviors as cyclists, some of which happened to take effect that day. To wit:

1) If you are going uphill, and approaching a light, the light will turn red most of the time.

2) The heavier the traffic around you, and the steeper the hill, the more probable it is that the light will turn red.

3) The light will not turn red until you have almost reached the intersection, causing you to stop suddenly with no chance to shift down to an easier gear.

4) Your ability to clip in on the first attempt after a red light is inversely related to the amount of traffic, the steepness of the hill, and the ridiculously high gear you were forced to stop in.

There are others unrelated to my situation yesterday, such as:

1) A slow motion fall when you are learning to ride in clipless pedals will happen when the most people are around to see you.

Etc.

Can you guys come up with some other good ones?

12 comments:

gravy said...

1. If you get a flat tire around people, the simplest of changes will take two to three times longer than if you are alone.

2. If you ride multiple bikes, the one day you bring the wrong tube will be the day you get a flat.

3. On the loneliest of days, if there is a walker up ahead and a jogger ahead coming towards you, you will meet both of them as they are side by side and not able to pass.

Bob K said...

Nice!

Adrian Olivera said...

1. Slow motion falling after 4-5 years of riding with clipless pedals, going no more than 5mph.

Bob K said...

The nicest weather of the year will always be on days when you don't have time to ride.

On the days you do have time to ride, the weather will be one or more of the following:

a) much hotter
b) much colder
c) much windier
d) raining

nicol said...

The first time you show up for a "casual gravel ride" on a Thursday night (beverages in bag and all!) in your flip-flops and regular clothes, you end up going through a lot of Wilderness Park on your cross bike, fall, get a gigantic knee bruise and come out of the park looking like you've pee'd your pants because you're sweating so much. Then, realize this really is sort-of a "man-cave" ride after all and look around and see no other females in sight.

But, even though it's bound to happen because of Murphy's Law and all, it still ends up being a blast!

gravy said...

The one time you can't go on a "casual gravel ride", you miss all the fun and the chance to make fun of a friend cuz she pee'd her pants!

kevin said...

What flavor of beverage, Nicol?

Please tell me you didn't bring sparkling water to the man cave ride.

Bob K said...

Was the beverage in a paper bag?

nicol said...

Bob K. and Silo: yes, I brought the right stuff for the man-cave, boxed juice!

Gravy: yes, you would have had many, many comments, I am sure. I totally wore the wrong color and material, even though when I put them on, I thought they were moisture wicking. Not!

kevin said...

Obviously it was God's way of punishing you for encroaching on man cave festities.

Boxed juice?!?!? oh my.

gravy said...

What are festities?

I am really out of the loop!

kevin said...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ysspics/2110201777/