Monday, June 23, 2008
Bicycles: The Ultimate Fusion of Man and Machine
This past weekend I rode my bicycle from Toronto to Niagara Falls with an overnight stop in Hamilton. It was a fantastic and challenging ride laden with long hills, steep declines, and wide open roads with escarpment views and vineyard smells. All in all, it was a wonderful weekend and both literally and figuratively went by very quickly.
Riding my bike also got me thinking about just how amazing the bicycle actually is. Think about it. Could you walk from Toronto to Hamilton in a day? Sure you probably could, but how long would it take? Being generous I think it would take at least 10-12 hours including stops for food and rest. I suppose one could consult the Canterbury Tales to find an authority on long distance walks, but we'll save that for another time.
And this does go to the point of this short piece. The bicycle can take an average human being places in the length of time that someone on foot cannot. As such, I believe the bicycle to be the ultimate fusion of human and mechanics. On its own, a bicycle can go nowhere but with a person in the saddle, a bicycle can go for hundreds of kilometres with the very same power plant - the human body. This is why it, in my opinion, it also stands as one of the greatest inventions in human history.
I have attached a beautiful montage from the 2003 edition to the great and glorious Tour De France I found on Youtube. The film was taken for an IMAX film and the music is from the soundtrack of “A Beautiful Mind”. Enjoy!
Riding my bike also got me thinking about just how amazing the bicycle actually is. Think about it. Could you walk from Toronto to Hamilton in a day? Sure you probably could, but how long would it take? Being generous I think it would take at least 10-12 hours including stops for food and rest. I suppose one could consult the Canterbury Tales to find an authority on long distance walks, but we'll save that for another time.
And this does go to the point of this short piece. The bicycle can take an average human being places in the length of time that someone on foot cannot. As such, I believe the bicycle to be the ultimate fusion of human and mechanics. On its own, a bicycle can go nowhere but with a person in the saddle, a bicycle can go for hundreds of kilometres with the very same power plant - the human body. This is why it, in my opinion, it also stands as one of the greatest inventions in human history.
I have attached a beautiful montage from the 2003 edition to the great and glorious Tour De France I found on Youtube. The film was taken for an IMAX film and the music is from the soundtrack of “A Beautiful Mind”. Enjoy!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)