General Cycling Discussion - birds fly, cyclist ride.

I was reminded of this after seeing Denverfox's signature line, biking is like flying as a bird.

There's this bike shop in Brewer, Maine that i used to go to when I briefly lived in Maine and on their hours of operation sign was written "birds fly, cyclists ride".

It just alway struck me as strange. I guess the owner got tired of hearing costumers say "I was flying down this hill" Man, I miss those hills.

So, who else has a strange bicycle saying?

Do I need to defend my sig line?? :)

I hope not.

I have always wanted to fly like a bird, but, alas, despite my flapping my arms as fast as I could, I never achieved that goal.

At age 62, I don't think I will take up hang gliding nor free-falling. So, the closest thing I seem to be able to get to flying is riding my bike - particularly my roadie. When I get it all together, and my legs feel strong, and I really get moving (at least for me), and the breeze is pushing against my face, I do feel as if I am a bird flying.

And that is where that sig line came from!!

No need for alarm, I like your signature line. Yes sometimes it does feel like flying. Or what I imagine flying must feel like.

What a coincidence. I just mentioned the same thing to my son yesterday as we bicycled, "bicycling is as close as toda's man can come to the sensation of flying".

He said, "Dad, you fly on airplanes all the time".

It's just not the same, though. Bicycling (and skiing) are the real deal. With just a slight lean to one side or the other, WHOoosh, you stear in that direction. With just a little more effort, ZOOooom, you speed up.

How wonderful it is.

I want to try a prone recumbent. Now THAT would feel like flying.

I've found that hitting on the bouncers' girlfriends is usually a good way to induce an airborne sensation, and it usually comes with the same backside pain, too. :D

hmmm.... a prone recumbent??
How's this for a name:
Wheel-Toboggan!

Originally posted by D*Alex
hmmm.... a prone recumbent??


http://www.encycleopedia.com/assets/enc/99/Recumbents/coolbreeze/lgPhoto1.jpg

If you wanna fly, do what I did at Coolangatta this morning. I was airborne for a split-second (I think).

Allister I love that bike.......:D

I would think that you'd really want a front fender on that bike. Or when it was wet you could forget the waterbottles and just open your mouth and drink the spray from the front tire. Yum.

Seriously, I've never seen one of those before. Looks like fun.

There used to be a video clip of it being ridden on the encycleopedia site, but that site's been radically refurbished recently and it seems to have gone. I'll dig further and post a link if I find it.

I have also made a sketch (http://www.users.bigpond.com/allistermclaren/images/semi%20prone.jpg) of a semi-prone bike I will 'one day' hopefully build. Note, I have included fenders :)

PS. They ain't cheap.(start from £1500 :eek: )