Fighter Jets, Bicycles & Riding Fast!
What do bicycles, airplanes and fighter jets have in common?
The first thing is that the Wright Brothers had a bicycle shop. Their work with bicycles had influence on their thoughts regarding flight. But that is not what this post is about.
This post is about the need for speed. And more particularly the misconception that it really is “about the bike”. Let me start with an interesting story from Chuck Yeager’s autobiography.
On our final day in Okinawa, there was an amusing incident between Chuck and two combat pilots who had flown in our Sabre chase planes from Korea. One of them, a lieutenant colonel, asked Chuck why we didn’t attempt to dogfight the MiG with the Sabre. Yeager told him that the outcome of a dogfight depended more on pilot experience than on an airplane’s performance. The combat pilot just didn’t believe it, so Chuck asked him if he would like to fly in the MiG 15 and dogfight Yeager, flying in a Sabre. The colonel agreed and Chuck checked him out in the plane’s systems and off they went. Chuck easily got on the MiG’s tail and stuck there. They landed and switched airplanes, Chuck taking off in the MiG and the colonel flying in his own Sabre. Again, Yeager waxed his tail unmercifully. When they landed, the colonel was extremely abashed. He said to Chuck, “I didn’t think the pilot mattered that much.” Chuck grinned and told him’, “The pilot with the most experience is gonna whip your ass, Colonel, -no matter what you’re flying-it’s that simple.”
A couple of weeks ago bikenoob was lamenting the fact that he got dropped by a moutain bike. On the other hand, Bob at Daily Cyclist has an amusing story about how he smoked a couple of posers. I have been in both of those situations. Of course when I get smoked I tell myself that I am on a recovery ride.
Let me put a new “spin” on Yeager’s words. “The strongest rider is gonna whip your ass -no matter what you’re riding- it’s that simple”. That is what fast riding, bicycles and jets have in common.
Don’t believe me? Here is an excerpt from an article by John Schubert. Don’t hold me to the authorship on this article but I think it is correct.
The true differences between a go-fast bike and a touring bike are much exaggerated. Do you want to have a one unit bike collection and still go fast? Buy a touring bike. Put skinny tires on it for your go-fast days. Your misinformed riding companions will marvel at your moose-like muscles, but you and I will know that you really aren’t overcoming a huge mechanical disadvantage.
Schubert goes on to explain a few things about weight, tires etc and the impact it has on speed.
I have been there. I have been on rides with groups with my touring bike outfitted with fenders and racks front and back. My fellow riders have been in awe at how I spent most of the time at the front. I did a two hundred mile bike race on that bike sans fenders and racks of course. But I still had 70×35 tires on it. At the starting line a fellow rider commented, rather derisively I might add, on my bike. A companion who had ridden with me on several occasions told the guy to take a good look because it was probably his last chance to check out my bike.
I must point out here that I am by no means a bike racer. I have no type of racing classification. I would call myself a serious recreational rider. But there’s the rub! Probably 99 percent of the fellow riders out there are not pros either.
At ride starts and rest stops you will find cyclists discussing various components, weight etc. What I find humorous is that a large number of these cyclists will be men carrying anywhere from 10-30 lbs around their waist. You can count me in that category.
What are a few grams in a pedal or even a pound or two on a frame when you are carrying thirty pounds of fat around your middle?
It’s not just bicycles and jets. Thirty years ago I was taking guitar lessons. I was playing an old used f-holer that I had purchased on the cheap. My instructor had a very nice instrument. I would play my guitar and think about how it sounded next to my instructor’s guitar. One day he picked my guitar up and did some extensive playing on it.
I was quite impressed with the sound coming from my old f-holer.
There is no substitute for flying time, hours in the bike saddle or time spent practicing a musical instrument.
If you are Yo-Yo Ma or Lance Armstrong then the tool of your trade makes difference. But for the rest of us mortals, a more expensive bike won’t reduce the time for our next century ride. As Schubert says in the end of the article.
“…if you want to go fast, it ain’t the bike that’s holding you back.”
October 19th, 2008 at 11:48 am
Thanks for the enjoyable read, and the link to Dailycyclist. I take solace in the fact that while I may be old, I’m still slow.
October 19th, 2008 at 11:57 am
I couldnt agree more. I commented about the weight issue a while back. I figured I must be carrying 1.5 stone (9.5kgs) of excess flab. Thats not a lot, I’m a rather healthy weight. But when you realise that is also the same weight as my whole bike it certainly brings things into perspective.
I recently made the switch from MTB with slicks to road bike. While I am faster on the road bike for sure, the difference in real terms in the area where I ride isnt that great. There is a difference tho, that cant be argued. But lining up on a start line for a sportive and comparing a few milimetres in tyre width and a few grams between one groupset and another really means very little when u get out on the roads. If someone else is faster than me on his Dura-Ace bike hes more than likely faster than me on his Tiagra equipped hack bike.
October 19th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
This story reminds me of one guy we had on our xc team. He wore large baggy shorts and basketball shoes, not proper running attire at all! We all had our spiked super light racing flats for races but he still ran in those basketball shoes, he was still almost the fastest one on the team ( never beat me though!)
October 19th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
Does this explain why I beat you up the hill to our house in Bountiful? I was on a light road bike and you were on your heavy commuting bike, but of course your excuse was your bike:)
October 19th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
This could be applied to so many things in life. I really love that last quote–I’ll have to write that down somewhere. We often spend so much time fussing about the insignificant technicalities of something as if they are the real reason that we’re not achieving what we want to–I guess because it’s easier than dealing with the big things that are really holding us back. It’s a lot easier to swap out some components or buy a new bike than to lose that extra 20 pounds. And it’s a lot easier to spend time fine-tuning a new weight loss plan than to identify and deal with the real issues causing us to be overweight in the first place.
I always think I’m not going to be able to relate to your cycling posts, but then you prove me wrong!
October 19th, 2008 at 9:49 pm
Some days I like to think of how cool it looks when I pass a guy on $5000 time trial bike in full kit and full tuck while I’m riding my $300 fixie with generator hub and 20 pound messenger bag.
Other days I think of the evening rides out of the local bike shop in Astoria Oregon where I am generally dropped within the first 10 minutes by a bunch of 60+ year old men. It doesn’t matter that I’m 30 years younger, riding a racing bike and think that I’m in decent shape, I can’t keep up unless they decide to let me.
It’s not about the chassis, it’s about the engine. The chassis can be expensive, but the engine can only improve in performance with work.
On a similar note, I’ve worked as a personal trainer and have frequently been asked how to get ‘6-pack abs’. The muscles are almost always there, they just happen to be hiding behind a keg of fat. They don’t believe you when you tell them to start running if they want a 6-pack.
October 21st, 2008 at 8:01 am
Sansauto: When it comes to six pack abs I tell people that I have six pack abs. I just keep my sixpack in an insulated container.