I like them, I feel like i’m helping them.
They’re obviously not good enough to do it on their own, they have to follow in the magesty that is me so they can keep up.
(it’s funny because it’s not true)
I actually think they’re just lazy.
Must be nice not riding on snow that is covering ice…least that’s how the Chicago streets felt on the ride home. Fresh snow on top of melted-snow ice…was a nice slide home…
The Grail is a reference to The Searcg for the Holy Grail, a legend built up around the search for the bowl or cup that Christ used at the last supper. An item that legend has it, has special powers and has been searched for pretty much since the 12th century, it has never been found. Common logic states that it was probably just a regular bowl that was later washed and used over and over until it got broken and tossed on the rubbish heap.
In this case The Grail, is that rider that it seems, even if you could set a land speed record on your bicycle you still would not catch up to them, even if you maintained that speed forever. Well over a year ago, Joe went so fast he exceeded the limits of space-time and ended up in the future where we found Yehuda as an old man missing one arm. Yet Joe was still unable to catch The Grail. What s a question is whether this is a real rider and YM is just not able to get up enough steam to catch up, or if this is completely within the mind of YM.
The legends of the Holy Grail are interesting in that from the very beginning, from the 12th century onwards, the Quest was always symbolic of inner struggle against the powers of evil. Only the purest could attain the Grail. In the traditional form of the legend, this was Sir Galahad:
“the best of Arthour’s Knights,
Who should achieve the quest of the Sangrael Which only they shall see whose lives are pure. No bravery is such a virtue as the Graele may gain.”[
As for the actual cup as an artifact, for each person The Holy Grail is whatever cup his parish priest lifts at the Eucharist and says “This is my blood of the New Covenant”Since we are coming up to the Christmas season, I’ll quote from the last stanza of the poem “Christmas” by John Betjeman:
No love that in a family dwells,
No carolling in frosty air,
Nor all the steeple-shaking bells
Can with this single Truth compare -
That God was man in Palestine
And lives today in Bread and Wine
I couldn’t tour in Winter. Cold weather and heavy sweating don’t work for me well. Even if I wear merino wool and proper windproof, breathable jacket, my limit is about two hours in temperatures below freezing before I start getting cold and have to get inside. Maybe I just sweat too much, need to lose more weight.
I stop when my water bottles become two frozen cylindrical blocks and my toe covers and wool socks begin to fail me, which is typically under 2 hours. Can’t say that I sweat much in the winter. I usually turn it down a notch in the colder months.
Some of us are just sweaty dudes. I oscillate between 145 and 165 lbs and I sweat like a pig, come summer or winter, even riding when the temp is well below zero. The only ways that I’ve found to not sweat in the winter are to severely underdress, or to dress for a comfortable walk and then ride reeeeeeeeeally slowly.
I think you’re on to something. Perhaps Yehuda is having a transcendental experience and is looking 2 minutes into his own future. At that rate he’ll never catch up.
Hah! Had you not told me that would have just sat in my RSS feed for 2 or 3 months before being deleted. What, no mention of all the nice things I said about him? Like “It’s like listening to a really witty and smart schizophrenic who won’t shut up…“; and “After you read 4000 words of rambling, oftentimes hilarious nonsense, his posts always just peter out like they ran out of batteries.“ Sheesh, some people just don’t know how to take a complement.
I don’t mind one bit being passed by a faster rider. Really. But that rider in the distance ahead can be frustrating. For me it’s more about curiosity than challenge.
Who is it? Add a gear’s worth of power. Push the cadence. He/she/it isn’t getting any closer. Eek out a few more watts. Same result. Maybe a full sprint? Drat! I seem to have already been in semi-sprint. Who was it? Riding what?
Matthew 28:1819
Then Jesus came to them and said “all authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations.”
It’s a well understood theological idea that Jesus would be on a bicycle in present day not in a SUV, and I’m for sure he would ride singlespeed or more likely a fixed gear, maybe a rigid ss 29er. No way would he be on a carbon racing machine 10speed toy. Perhaps Jesus and Mahatma Gandhi would run a messenger company delivering inner-peace and salvation
Not sure about Jesus on a fixie. He was noted in his own time for riding donkeys, so I see his modern incarnation more on a cheap mtb lookalike with semi-flat tyres and stuck in one gear. As the Son of God, though, nobody, but nobody, would ever be able to catch up with him on it….
My Tandem is getting a makeover with a Schlumpf BB, so I was browsing their website today and guess what Mongo? They do a unit you can use on your fixie! You have your normal gear, then you can go higher or lower if you want.
Coming to that bitch of hill you never can climb? kick down 2.5:1 and you can now spin up it like it flattened out!
Getting tired of being dragged down that 1:6 hill? Go 1:2.5 and pedal slower instead of either busting your knees or spinning-out… (All in fun, please take no offence. I would be pleased to read your thoughts on this idea though!)
I live in Wesern Maryland, which tends to the mountainous. But at around 63 gear inches, I can climb almost anything, and when I can’t, (10%+ hills that go on forever) I walk. So freakin’ what?
Having said that, I’d love a low range. Don’t need it often, because fixed gear plus a freasonable ratio plus fitness (or hella strong leg muscles, at least) lets me mostly do what I need to do. But for that long, long grind-well, I ain’t gettin’ no younger.
Actually, my current bike (Crosscheck) is about as close to perfect as anything I’ve ever ridden. If I were to change anything, it would be to swap out my 20 tooth for a Surly dingle cog withy as close to a 4 tooth difference as my dropouts would allow, and change the 48 chainring to whatever it takes to give me 63-65 gear inches on the small cog. That would be nice.
And I’ve thought about a freewheel on the other end of my flipflop hub, but that would mean I should put the rear brake back on. No biggie, but I really don’t mind spinning down a hill. But a bailout fixwed cog for climbing-That would be nice. I just can’t justify the cost and added complexity of a Schlumpf. One more thing to go wrong to a man who seeks the simple solution? No thank you.
I had figured as much from your comments but is nice to get some feedback. Thanks Mongo.
I am getting my pensions and can afford one blowout upgrade – Next job is getting fit again. I envy your strong legs!
I used to ba able to catch folks on a fixed gear. Now I can’t, but I still ride them. They are a joyful thing. 55″ and I can climb the hill to the house, but more importantly I can keep from overspinning on the way down.
Mongo -
Don’t worry about the flip flop and freewheel thing. I’ve tried it, it pretty much destroys the whole thing. It works just like it’s supposed to, but if you’re gonna do that just get a triple and a 10 speed freehub and be done with it.
Unless the person in front of me is obviously in need of some sort of help, I just don’t care to catch them. Sometimes, if they aren’t traveling significantly faster than I, it is fun to catch up in order to get some tips (never hurts to make someone else feel like an expert from time to time). It’s sorta neat to find those rare few, in any given locality, that share my affinity for all weather cycling.
Wow, those are some nice deals on the fenders and seats! I always thought the fenders were about double. My old leather saddle isn’t half as thick, but is so comfortable after 90K miles I’d better resist the temptation…for now.
Isn’t it wonderful, you’re on a long trip, starting to really regret it and consider giving up, when you spot someone ahead doing the same. You can’t stand to look weak so you push harder to catch up and keep up, and before you know it, you’re back in travel mode!
But surely it is the ‘Pride in Performance’ when you complete something difficult? The satisfaction when you get to the top of a long, steep, hill etc – that elation when the struggle is over. Part and Parcel of human life!
True, but for me at least, that “Pride in Performance” has nothing to do with what anyone else is doing. I don’t try to catch up or keep up with anyone (on those rare occasions when I see another cyclist) because I’m not a competitve person and don’t care how my performance compares with someone else’s.
Love the worry lines in the first panel. Know the feeling.
Merry Merry, all!
Merry Christmas indeed to all! Found this ROFL tonight..enjoy but *NSFW*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ysfQjKKi70
Have a safe and happy holiday, ride when you can!
Thanks, Obi! Love me some Drew Toothpaste! I wish I could send that video out as a Christmas card.
Since there’s no “Dislike” button available here, I have to make my own:
DISLIKE
Hey Widsith, **** you if you don’t profanity.
Obi, that **** was **********ing hilarious! Thanks for the new *******ed Christmas ****in’ Carol. Welp, I’m off to go a-wassailing.
*** ‘em if they can’t take a joke, I always say.
There is something nice about riding alone but something magical about having someone to chase down.
And nothing more frustrating than not being able to catch up. By my age, however, you get used to the frustration. Almost.
I see what you mean, but however there’s nothing more annoying than a wheel sucker…
Your not a wheel sucker until you catch them.
I like them, I feel like i’m helping them.
They’re obviously not good enough to do it on their own, they have to follow in the magesty that is me so they can keep up.
(it’s funny because it’s not true)
I actually think they’re just lazy.
I think the Grail only exists in the beholder’s mind.
Also I like the ice forming on Y’s beard.
Can’t do that anymore myself, shaved it off. But I remember the experience well.
I just had that last night!
I find chin hair to be much more effective than a full face cover to protect from the cold. Must be that nature thing.
Must be nice not riding on snow that is covering ice…least that’s how the Chicago streets felt on the ride home. Fresh snow on top of melted-snow ice…was a nice slide home…
Best studded tires are in order then. You’ll become the most stable person on the road then.
Jean means that “Physically”, not “Mentally”.
Nice to see the Grail come back. There always has to be some elusive mystery in life.
I find that “fully loaded” I’m just as fast on flat terrain and faster downhill. It is going uphill that can be a challenge.
“I should turn back” It’s surprising to read this in the mouth of Yehuda. But when apostles begin to doubt, God sends them a sign.
Theres nothing like having a nice rabbit to get you moving on a cold day!
who is The Grail?
The Grail is a reference to The Searcg for the Holy Grail, a legend built up around the search for the bowl or cup that Christ used at the last supper. An item that legend has it, has special powers and has been searched for pretty much since the 12th century, it has never been found. Common logic states that it was probably just a regular bowl that was later washed and used over and over until it got broken and tossed on the rubbish heap.
In this case The Grail, is that rider that it seems, even if you could set a land speed record on your bicycle you still would not catch up to them, even if you maintained that speed forever. Well over a year ago, Joe went so fast he exceeded the limits of space-time and ended up in the future where we found Yehuda as an old man missing one arm. Yet Joe was still unable to catch The Grail. What s a question is whether this is a real rider and YM is just not able to get up enough steam to catch up, or if this is completely within the mind of YM.
ungh.
The legends of the Holy Grail are interesting in that from the very beginning, from the 12th century onwards, the Quest was always symbolic of inner struggle against the powers of evil. Only the purest could attain the Grail. In the traditional form of the legend, this was Sir Galahad:
“the best of Arthour’s Knights,
Who should achieve the quest of the Sangrael Which only they shall see whose lives are pure. No bravery is such a virtue as the Graele may gain.”[
As for the actual cup as an artifact, for each person The Holy Grail is whatever cup his parish priest lifts at the Eucharist and says “This is my blood of the New Covenant”Since we are coming up to the Christmas season, I’ll quote from the last stanza of the poem “Christmas” by John Betjeman:
No love that in a family dwells,
No carolling in frosty air,
Nor all the steeple-shaking bells
Can with this single Truth compare -
That God was man in Palestine
And lives today in Bread and Wine
I couldn’t tour in Winter. Cold weather and heavy sweating don’t work for me well. Even if I wear merino wool and proper windproof, breathable jacket, my limit is about two hours in temperatures below freezing before I start getting cold and have to get inside. Maybe I just sweat too much, need to lose more weight.
I stop when my water bottles become two frozen cylindrical blocks and my toe covers and wool socks begin to fail me, which is typically under 2 hours. Can’t say that I sweat much in the winter. I usually turn it down a notch in the colder months.
Some of us are just sweaty dudes. I oscillate between 145 and 165 lbs and I sweat like a pig, come summer or winter, even riding when the temp is well below zero. The only ways that I’ve found to not sweat in the winter are to severely underdress, or to dress for a comfortable walk and then ride reeeeeeeeeally slowly.
Been a while since we’ve seen the grail.
Maybe the Grail is Yehuda in a mirage? IOW, he’s chasing himself.
That would explain his tail…
I think you’re on to something. Perhaps Yehuda is having a transcendental experience and is looking 2 minutes into his own future. At that rate he’ll never catch up.
Yes he would. When his future self stops, Yehuda would catch up to him two minutes later.
My brain just exploded.
Hope you wrapped your head with duct tape, anyway.
Duct tape fixes everything.
@SDMSS: Or at least makes the mess easier to clean up.
@john4t2: just like bicycle helmets.*
*Sorry! Not trying to start a war, but I couldn’t resist.
Which reminds me-SDMSS, you might do the duct tape wrap on yourself before/if you read today’s BSNYC.
Hah! Had you not told me that would have just sat in my RSS feed for 2 or 3 months before being deleted. What, no mention of all the nice things I said about him? Like “It’s like listening to a really witty and smart schizophrenic who won’t shut up…“; and “After you read 4000 words of rambling, oftentimes hilarious nonsense, his posts always just peter out like they ran out of batteries.“ Sheesh, some people just don’t know how to take a complement.
Hey buddy, if it made you laugh my day is complete.
duct tape = Alabama chrome
Riders are strange. At least this one is strange.
I don’t mind one bit being passed by a faster rider. Really. But that rider in the distance ahead can be frustrating. For me it’s more about curiosity than challenge.
Who is it? Add a gear’s worth of power. Push the cadence. He/she/it isn’t getting any closer. Eek out a few more watts. Same result. Maybe a full sprint? Drat! I seem to have already been in semi-sprint. Who was it? Riding what?
the “riding what” part is what keeps me chasing everyone. I just like to look at the components and the bikes, and give a friendly nod.
I like catching them on my fixed gear. Gives me a chance to spread the Gospel.
Matthew 28:1819
Then Jesus came to them and said “all authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations.”
It’s a well understood theological idea that Jesus would be on a bicycle in present day not in a SUV, and I’m for sure he would ride singlespeed or more likely a fixed gear, maybe a rigid ss 29er. No way would he be on a carbon racing machine 10speed toy. Perhaps Jesus and Mahatma Gandhi would run a messenger company delivering inner-peace and salvation
Not sure about Jesus on a fixie. He was noted in his own time for riding donkeys, so I see his modern incarnation more on a cheap mtb lookalike with semi-flat tyres and stuck in one gear. As the Son of God, though, nobody, but nobody, would ever be able to catch up with him on it….
Talking about the Gospel according to Sheldon, actually.
Amen.
My Tandem is getting a makeover with a Schlumpf BB, so I was browsing their website today and guess what Mongo? They do a unit you can use on your fixie! You have your normal gear, then you can go higher or lower if you want.
Coming to that bitch of hill you never can climb? kick down 2.5:1 and you can now spin up it like it flattened out!
Getting tired of being dragged down that 1:6 hill? Go 1:2.5 and pedal slower instead of either busting your knees or spinning-out… (All in fun, please take no offence. I would be pleased to read your thoughts on this idea though!)
Yes, I know they would be 2 different setups – Mountain Drive or (high)speed drive!
Well, since you asked…
I live in Wesern Maryland, which tends to the mountainous. But at around 63 gear inches, I can climb almost anything, and when I can’t, (10%+ hills that go on forever) I walk. So freakin’ what?
Having said that, I’d love a low range. Don’t need it often, because fixed gear plus a freasonable ratio plus fitness (or hella strong leg muscles, at least) lets me mostly do what I need to do. But for that long, long grind-well, I ain’t gettin’ no younger.
Actually, my current bike (Crosscheck) is about as close to perfect as anything I’ve ever ridden. If I were to change anything, it would be to swap out my 20 tooth for a Surly dingle cog withy as close to a 4 tooth difference as my dropouts would allow, and change the 48 chainring to whatever it takes to give me 63-65 gear inches on the small cog. That would be nice.
And I’ve thought about a freewheel on the other end of my flipflop hub, but that would mean I should put the rear brake back on. No biggie, but I really don’t mind spinning down a hill. But a bailout fixwed cog for climbing-That would be nice. I just can’t justify the cost and added complexity of a Schlumpf. One more thing to go wrong to a man who seeks the simple solution? No thank you.
I had figured as much from your comments but is nice to get some feedback. Thanks Mongo.
I am getting my pensions and can afford one blowout upgrade – Next job is getting fit again. I envy your strong legs!
I used to ba able to catch folks on a fixed gear. Now I can’t, but I still ride them. They are a joyful thing. 55″ and I can climb the hill to the house, but more importantly I can keep from overspinning on the way down.
Mongo -
Don’t worry about the flip flop and freewheel thing. I’ve tried it, it pretty much destroys the whole thing. It works just like it’s supposed to, but if you’re gonna do that just get a triple and a 10 speed freehub and be done with it.
Then there’s the rest of my upgrade – the NuVinci hub! Without a freewheel sprocket you get a fixie with infinite gears between 50% and 150%!
Unless the person in front of me is obviously in need of some sort of help, I just don’t care to catch them. Sometimes, if they aren’t traveling significantly faster than I, it is fun to catch up in order to get some tips (never hurts to make someone else feel like an expert from time to time). It’s sorta neat to find those rare few, in any given locality, that share my affinity for all weather cycling.
In some localities, it is more than a “rare few.” See:
http://www.youtube.com/markenlei#p/c/F2C046E49FA49F5A/2/2rETLfzQrIw
Note the following:
0:38 & 4:04 three policemen cycling
1:07 & 3:06 passenger riding on the rear rack
4:20 Child in a Bakfiets (Even looks like Fizz!)
You caught a bad location there … bikepaths around here are snow-free
(which is bad ’cause my trike and I want to drift )
Wow, those are some nice deals on the fenders and seats! I always thought the fenders were about double. My old leather saddle isn’t half as thick, but is so comfortable after 90K miles I’d better resist the temptation…for now.
“Unless the person in front of me is obviously in need of some sort of help”. Because they have no brakes?
I’ve got a set of Barcons just waiting on new handlebars to be mounted. My fav shifters since I mounted the Campy ones on my PX10e back in 1973.
Nothing like some Cat 6 racing.
meh-riffic.
Hah – I think yer all wrong… I smell love on that crisp winter breeze… I think the other traveller is a girl…
Wouldn’t that be something? If the Grail turned out to be the Sister!
Isn’t it wonderful, you’re on a long trip, starting to really regret it and consider giving up, when you spot someone ahead doing the same. You can’t stand to look weak so you push harder to catch up and keep up, and before you know it, you’re back in travel mode!
I usually just give up and go watch TV. Things that are difficult are rarely worth doing.
But surely it is the ‘Pride in Performance’ when you complete something difficult? The satisfaction when you get to the top of a long, steep, hill etc – that elation when the struggle is over. Part and Parcel of human life!
True, but for me at least, that “Pride in Performance” has nothing to do with what anyone else is doing. I don’t try to catch up or keep up with anyone (on those rare occasions when I see another cyclist) because I’m not a competitve person and don’t care how my performance compares with someone else’s.
hi
How hi?