Betrayed by the New
Biking in to work today. Breakfast sandwich in my jacket pocket, coffee in my right hand. Nonchalant, self-satisfied.
I’m on the sidewalk. The paper-wrapped sandwich falls out of my pocket onto the ground; I squeeze the left-hand brake. This bike, still pretty new to me, has good brakes, and shocks in front.
The action of the brake slows down the bicycle, and compresses the shocks several inches, dropping the front of the bike. I am still riding high, and haven’t slowed down nearly as much as the bike has. I do what any object which knows its Newton would do, and pitch headlong over the front of the bike. My knees catch the handlebars as I’m going over. This starts me rotating so as to increase the speed with which my head is approaching the sidewalk. The bike, which knows its Newton too, picks up an opposite and equal rotational momentum. This lifts its back end in the beginning of a glorious arc which will allow the entire bike to land upside down on top of me when I hit the pavement.
In the end, I’m very little hurt. A bit rough on the palms, and a slightly sore neck (and some new little cracks in the front of my helmet). And, most marvelously of all, I didn’t even spill my coffee!
April 12th, 2005 at 10:20 pm
I’m so glad to see a new Desultor entry that I’m not even the least bit sad about your injury! I’m not!
October 24th, 2009 at 8:44 am
I just Googled for bike and Got your Page.Your Post Desultor » Blog Archive » Betrayed by the New is really Nice.I love reading on bike.
January 15th, 2010 at 12:32 am
Awesome site. Gives me the invcentive for my fitness goals this year.
May 5th, 2010 at 11:59 am
Very insightful. I love the way you write. Do you have an RSS feed?
October 8th, 2010 at 11:51 am
hcg dpv is the most recent in a long line of hcg products and I was wondering if it works.
October 24th, 2010 at 4:02 pm
Substantially, the article is really the sweetest on this noteworthy topic. I harmonise with your conclusions and will thirstily look forward to your upcoming updates. Saying thanks will not just be adequate, for the wonderful lucidity in your writing. I will right away grab your rss feed to stay privy of any updates. Pleasant work and much success in your business enterprize!
December 5th, 2010 at 8:54 pm
I’m still learning from you, as I’m trying to reach my goals. I definitely liked reading all that is posted on your website.Keep the stories coming. I enjoyed it
December 10th, 2010 at 2:18 am
Hi
Some excellent points of reference in this article, it makes a change to read information that is not only useful, but also makes you think more about the article that has been written.
Regards
Webmaster @Frontierville guide
January 22nd, 2011 at 7:14 am
Just killing some in between classes, on Digg and I found your article . Not normally what I prefer to read about, however it was absolutely worth my time. Thanks.
January 23rd, 2011 at 5:13 am
This one is an inspiration, which uncovers a lot related to this subject. I must confess your data matched my sentiments. I am going to now take your feed to remain updated on every coming blog post you may create. You are hereby thanked for a job perfectly done!
January 26th, 2011 at 4:32 pm
I actually noticed an interesting feature a little while ago on how to earn profits with using silver gold advertise. I believed it was unique since the your old watches marketplace is exploding nowadays and really not many people are now using it all. goldpartyllc.com