Speed

There is no words in my vocabulary to express my feelings to make you fully comprehend how it felt, how good it felt to finish a half island round. Sixty odd kilometers of road, two wheels and one cyclist. The ingredients were there to fill me up with one and a half hour of fun. Flat out fun.

The ride was good, went from West Coast, to Ang Mo Kio, to Woodlands and back down to West Coast. But you know what the best part was? It was 2am in the morning and the road was all mine. It was a non-stop ride, traffic lights were there, but there was no need to stop. There wasn't any traffic! Ive got to admit though, I was a little aggressive during the ride. There was an attack almost every twenty minutes. There was just that urge to go faster. The last attack as I rolled into West Coast Park was my favorite. The attack started as soon as I cleared the flyover, attacked the climb at NUS and then flicked to high gear for the descent.

Another positive factor about cycling at night is that the bike does not get dirty so easily, simply because of the lack of cars to spray their exhaust fumes on the frame. It was cooling as well. Water supply was more than sufficient and the bike just had to be wiped with a piece of dry cloth to remove dirt that came from the road, and that was it.

A few hours later however, I found myself on the saddle of my mountain bike. After a few hours of riding, my knee was busted, and as I cycled home on my bike, I've finally figured out why people who take up road never put it down. More than anything, it's the speed. Speed; relative rapidity in moving, going, etc.; rate of motion or progress. I'm not going to lie and say that the road is more comfortable, because it's not. But oh my, the speed. It's just the speed. It's never ever going to let you go. It's going to consume you.

Yea, it's just coming from me. Maybe I'm obsessed. Maybe it's only me. But yea, this is why I think the road stands as what it is today. Which begs the question, should you tamper with a road bike? Some people, ok, two people I know changed their dropped bars to flat. WHY?! Their argument is that it is more relaxed. But seriously? The bike is forcing you down and now you want to force yourself up? You're fighting the geometry. And what about aerodynamics? The best way to maintain the streamline is to stay on your drops, that is a fact, it's not here to be disputed. So what happens when you lose the drops? You lose that edge, you know that don't you? and Mountain Bike parts, they just don't belong on a road bike. The gear ratios are different if you haven't notice. Yes, there are some mountain bike parts that you can use, but really? Do you really want it? I don't know. That's just my stand. A hybrid is a nice idea, you get more comfort than a road and more speed than a mountain, but just think about what you're losing.. You're losing every single thing the road was striving for.

Sounds like total bullshit luhh for those who don't understand. But really sia, crossbreeds? That good of an idea? Last time, there was this kid, he had a road bike with a flat bar. He was quite proud of reaching 27km/h and sustaining that speed. erps. So yea, I don't know, just give me your comments or something on hybrids.

"It's never ever going to let you go"

~Callum