You Can You Ride A Bike If You Just Believe In Yourself

Greg Duch | June 6, 2011 at 5:38 p.m. ― 2 years, 10 months ago

Bike riding is THE PROTOTYPICAL METAPHOR FOR HUMAN LIVING ITSELF.
" As in riding a bike, one must continue moving forward in order to maintain one's balance.---"Einstein's THIRD LAW OF MOTION MEETS FREUDIAN ANALYSIS"

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radiofree | June 6, 2011 at 10:57 p.m. ― 2 years, 10 months ago

from Energy and Equity by Ivan Illich

Man, unaided by any tool, gets around quite efficiently. He carries one gram of his weight over a kilometer in ten minutes by expending 0.75 calories. Man on his feet is thermodynamically more efficient than any motorized vehicle and most animals. For his weight, he performs more work in locomotion than rats or oxen, less than horses or sturgeon. At this rate of efficiency man settled the world and made its history. At this rate peasant societies spend less than 5 per cent and nomads less than 8 per cent of their respective social time budgets outside the home or the encampment.

Man on a bicycle can go three or four times faster than the pedestrian, but uses five times less energy in the process. He carries one gram of his weight over a kilometer of flat road at an expense of only 0.15 calories. The bicycle is the perfect transducer to match man’s metabolic energy to the impedance of locomotion. Equipped with this tool, man outstrips the efficiency of not only all machines but all other animals as well.

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To_Tell_you_The_truth | June 7, 2011 at 10:09 a.m. ― 2 years, 10 months ago

More people (kids especially) would ride if there were more bike paths and safer routes. We need to create networks of bike PATHS that are separate from vehicular traffic. Other countries have them. Denmark and Germany's bike fatalities are much lower than ours.

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Greg Duch | June 7, 2011 at 6:09 p.m. ― 2 years, 10 months ago

So, who taught you to ride a bike? Seriously, I am interested. Cycling is a child's introduction to a means of locomotion other one's feet and hands. At least, most kids learn to ride a bike before they learn to drive a car---PERHAPS, EXCEPT IN CALIFORNIA! Furthermore, the concept of cycles and the ebb and flow of life is enscribed into a child's memory via his psycho-motor learning-- a very powerful learning device!
So take yoUr place on the GREAT MANDELA, AS IT MOVES THROUGH YOUR BRIEF MOMENT OF TIME!

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Greg Duch | June 8, 2011 at 4:55 p.m. ― 2 years, 10 months ago

I was taught to ride in our New York City Queensborough neighborhood by my brother, older than I by six years. Oh what a proud day when the "training wheels" came off. What a whirling sense of accomplishment was achieved when i was able to move forward, without losing balance on just two wheels.I recall that initial sense of surprise of being free of any "crutches" and able to do what had seemed impossible, just months earlier. That experience was the first clear case of needing to believe some action (riding a bike) was truly possible. Once that crucial sense of self-confidence in the uncompromised belief in the possibility of riding two wheels was attained, it all seemed as natural as walking, crawling, or eating already were. I think I rode for about 4 hours straight (well, I did learn how to do turns too.) that first day.

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