My Morning Commute

[dkel]

@Steve O 79635 wrote:

I have tried and tried and tried to not experience it that way, but it always seems slightly downhill to me no matter which way I’m going.

Does anyone else have this same brain dysfunction? I suppose if I’m going to have some sort of perceptual bias, erring on the side of always riding downhill is better than the opposite.

The same thing happens to me on the W&OD just west of Cedar lane. I can clearly see that part of it is uphill (depending which way I’m going), and I still feel like I’m pedaling downhill. I even shift up going both ways over the same section. 😎 Can’t complain.

[rcannon100]

Next time you are in Pennsylvania, visit Gravity Hill.

There has been solid scientific research conducted on Gravity Hill. I read the paper somewhere. A couple of theories have to do with iron deposits within the mountain disturbing the gravitational well, bending it if you might. Consistent with Einsteinian theories that gravity is most appropriate imagined as a vortex, and the hill is causing a ripple in that vortex.

Conversely, the alternative theory is that there is something about the perceiver that is altering the observation. Just like the hill is made out of dense iron causing a disturbance, in this theory, the perceiver is simply dense and disturbed – and has been found to have difficulty detecting up from down. In this theory, the perceiver, whether a tourist in Pennsylvania or a cyclist on the Custis, is considered a deluded aberration who lets momentary sensory input deceive them.

Probably the second option, but I am not sure.

[dkel]

@rcannon100 79640 wrote:

in this theory, the perceiver is simply dense and disturbed

Wait–what?

[rcannon100]

@dkel 79642 wrote:

Wait–what?

Well, you know, in the case of Steve O

[DaveK]

We have one of those back home in Florida…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spook_Hill

[dbb]

@DaveK 79782 wrote:

We have one of those back home in Florida…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spook_Hill

What is notable about DaveK’s post is that he thinks they have a hill in Florida.

[Geoff]

@dbb 79785 wrote:

…he thinks they have a hill in Florida.

Before moving to the DC area I’d had the pleasure of biking in the Rockies, the Appalachians, the Ozarks, and in San Francisco. It took me a couple years to figure out where Capitol Hill is. I mean, I knew where the Capitol is, but where was the hill?

[bobco85]

Luck of the Irish (my ancestry is 1/8 from Ireland) was in full effect today. I made every light, and when I got home, I found a $1 bill in the snow (and it was still dry)!

[video=youtube_share;z5s5u5K0yBA]http://youtu.be/z5s5u5K0yBA[/video]

[consularrider]

The one dollar bill I found on Park St by St James was wet!

[Fast Friendly Guy]

@consularrider 79808 wrote:

The one dollar bill I found on Park St by St James was wet!

Wet? Dry? Who cares, it’s still a dollar! All I seem to find while riding is pennies and dimes–and I ALWAYS pick them up!

[Fast Friendly Guy]

@dbb 79785 wrote:

What is notable about DaveK’s post is that he thinks they have a hill in Florida.

DaveK is not the only one….so do I…and I climbed it: Britton Hill is the highest natural point in the state of Florida, with a summit topping out at 345′
(well, when I’m not riding, I’m a mountaineer)

[mstone]

@Fast Friendly Guy 79815 wrote:

DaveK is not the only one….so do I…and I climbed it: Britton Hill is the highest natural point in the state of Florida, with a summit topping out at 345′
(well, when I’m not riding, I’m a mountaineer)

Note that it has a prominence of 65 feet, and is the lowest high point of any state; the mocking stands.

Illustration:

[Fast Friendly Guy]

@mstone 79825 wrote:

[The high point in Florida] …has a prominence of 65 feet, and is the lowest high point of any state; the mocking stands.

Here’s some interesting bicycle trivia. When I was at the 14,000 ft camp on McKinley/Denali In Alaska, I met a guy with a road bike (the truth!) He had achieved recognition for riding the length of the Great Wall of China, and his intention was to ride/bring his bike to every state high point. There are roads near the summit on only a handful of state high points (Florida is one) He told me he had to carry it partially disassembled on this climb. When I saw him later on the way to 17,000′ he had a bike wheel in his gloved hand. I don’t think he made it to the summit–with or without his bike. He also told me he’d run into trouble on Mt Rainier in Washington, because the rangers said bikes were not allowed. His name was Kevin Foster.

A couple of my drawings from Denali
[ATTACH=CONFIG]4992[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH=CONFIG]4993[/ATTACH]

[cyclingfool]

@bobco85 79797 wrote:

Luck of the Irish (my ancestry is 1/8 from Ireland) was in full effect today.

This. 😎

[jrenaut]

Realized when I dropped the kids that I forgot my helmet this morning, so I had kind of a slow ride in as I went home to get it – it’s not much out of the way. This had the added benefit of allowing me to ride in with my wife, who was running late. There was a guy in a really expensive Mercedes with a donut on the rear wheel who was kind of zipping around, and I may have made some remarks to my wife concerning negative generalizations about Mercedes drivers.

And then he surprised me – when he turned right at G or F or something, he properly put on his signal to get into the right lane and properly yielded to me as I was already occupying the right lane. I don’t want to give him too much credit for simply following the law, but it was a pleasant surprise.

[Author]

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