3 years ago i went to other side of the country to (as usual) hike high mountains there.. but this time on a road bike. 700km one way, 800km the other, avoiding big roads. crossed 3 mountains. 15 days (plus other 5 for the hike). Tent, sleeping bag, tools, cameras, all that jazz. Bike with all stuff on it was like 35kg. Extremely easy to fall down and nearly go wheels up :/<p>Some things materialized in my mind while doing this quite meditative (and sometimes dangerous) exercise..<p>- bees fly with same 15-20km/h as you and will escort you if going sameway<p>- road bike is <i>silent</i>. Quite a few bugs and one lizard went under the wheels<p>- i was invisible for most people. They do see me but cannot fathom how can i would be there (middle of nothing) on that bike, so.. don't really see me. or talk inadequately..<p>- i was out of reach of nearly any road-constraints. Signs, limits, fences, gates, whatever. don't this, do that.. just Shrug it. Not more than 40km/h uphill? Well i hardly do 6 so..<p>- farting while pedalling a bike, is difficult business<p>- the worse thing are the small halos of flies at face-height in afternoon sun in broadleaf forests, uphill. There's no escaping those - u need at least 10km/h but proper uphill is like 5-6 max. Maybe a motorised fan/blower? Thinking about it..<p>- there's lots more.. may write it one day<p>Since then i've been doing such (but smaller) trips each summer, like 500km/4 days. But it's not same, need to increase to at least 10 days. Btw, in 4 years, i raised the average speed from 15km/h to 16km/h - maybe because on shorter distances i take 10% less stuff... :/<p>have fun
I honestly don't get the leaf blower analogy of the article.<p>A bit of a side note, but leaf blowers are the stupidest invention I can think of off the top of my head. They are noisy, polluting, inefficient machines that serve no purpose other than to annoy neighbors of lazy people who feel like using a rake is beyond their physical capacity.
I live in already bike intensive area and only have a bicycle myself. Since I already have too many hobbies I intentionally try not to work on my own bike. Unfortunately, for me I suppose, the amount of people on bikes now means the bike shops are absolutely stuffed with bikes needing repairs. So, when my rear axle bearing went out I bought a rack and a tool kit after years and years of avoiding it. I couldnt be happier for me and the bike shops.