So, it's not just me that makes the cycle commute into an adrenaline generating, lungs pumping, heart rate moving with anticipation and not just exercise and brain moving into stealthy panther mode as I cast a calculating eye up the road ahead.
http://www.itsnotarace.org/
This tickled the hell out of me. Not just an admission that We All Do It, but indeed a system, a calculator and numbers game. Sheer beauty and joy.
In the food chain calculation (FCN) I come out as an 11. Briefly the lower your number the more serious and credible a cyclist you are, and your scalp is there for the taking of those further down the chain, those such as I with the higher numbers. I almost liked that it removes the gender and age differences, placing us all on an equal status as simple Cyclists. That's liberating, we're all Cyclists, and the things which hold us apart are our budgets, perceptions and willingness to either spend money or look daft. Looking daft is also up for individual perception. To some, to wear Lycra is to look daft. To lycra wearers, panniers may be frowned upon. It's a whole world of joyous differences to be celebrated.
I am an 11 because my bike isn't super duper in appearance. It has a mudguard and no drop handle bars. I also use panniers. I don't wear lycra. These all push me down the chain giving me so many more targets to go at. My regret is that in the last two days commutes I haven't had a scalp in sight. This is going to be Fun.
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