Sitting here, staring at BF.net...
 

It occurs to me that if only there were a way to somehow harness all the energy spent slacking... Just think what we could do!

If all the energy we spent typing and reading posts while at work were somehow directed into something constructive...

I dunno, but it feels like we could be doing SOMEthing useful.

most of the people in the world do very little in terms of being constructive. their sole existence basically just adds mass to the population. if we weren't on BF, we'd still find a way to waste time.

Let's go for a bike ride!

The only problem is that like VX-2 poison gas, the power of slacking really only has 1 good purpose.
We can't redirect it to do anything else other than to slack.

I've got a great idea... enh, never mind...

Hey! Loafing is a respectable and time-honored vocation, I aspire to become one of it's leading experts!

We ride so we can slack. In fact, the HHCMF Club needs a slogan. How 'bout:
1) Ride to slack, slack to ...whatever...
2) Ride to work, work to pay the rent, food, clothes, day care, bike stuff, etc.
3) Feel my thigh!
Other suggestions are welcomed.

I just realized this is thread hijacking. I'll slip this into it's own thread.

Problem is what to spend energy on.

...and in any mass of poeple, someone will try to organize it, which while good at first, eventually becomes a political fustercluck.

Which means, more people loafing around and jabbering instead of working....howeve this time around they actually have the nerve to claim they are working!

Novel, isn't it?

If you think about it, sports is a waste of time in terms of constructive work. So is sleeping, and going on a cruise...but we do it...

Slacking energy would be spent on non honorable causes.

Reinforcing the notion that there are fun things to do without a internal combustion engine is not slacking to me.

... see ... I wrote a whole sentence .... poorly. That is not slacking.

I like slacking. I also like sneaking onto someone elses computer and typing responses on BF. That way when the IT department looks to see WHO is going where, I won't get caught! Right? :D

Slacking takes hardly any energy. So we're not wasting much energy which means we're being energy efficient. Yay slackers!

Oh no... you're the only one who wears tight spandex into work and bikes 20 miles a day to work. It can't possibly be you. :p

i don't understand. whenever i go out there in the world and do something 'constructive' i end up hating a human being. i've been on bf a whole hour already today, and i don't hate anyone yet. it's gotta be constructive.

Not sure about how to make it constructive, but I can't seem to remember how I ever got any efficient slacking done before there were computers.

Drawing ... my best work has been done in slacking time.

Interesting this slacking bizz. An anti slacking proponent i respect is Henry Rollins,.. i can see where he is coming from. On the other hand, the more people delve into native and older societies the more it becomes plain that many of the earlier humans 'slacked off' a lot. That is to say, they had lots of leasure and do nothing time. It seems to be a beneficial thing to do for many humans.

For a very interesting (and elequent though easy to follow) essay on leisure vs. work/toil/play vs. slacking vs. jobs. check out the essay by Bob Black i have on my page:

http://www.rhizomes.nl/abolition%20of%20work.html

The intro reads (and it only gets better IMO)
---
No one should ever work.

Work is the source of nearly all the misery in the world. Almost any evil you'd care to name comes from working or from living in a world designed for work. In order to stop suffering, we have to stop working.

That doesn't mean we have to stop doing things. It does mean creating a new way of life based on play; in other words, a ludic conviviality, commensality, and maybe even art. There is more to play than child's play, as worthy as that is. I call for a collective adventure in generalized joy and freely interdependent exuberance. Play isn't passive. Doubtless we all need a lot more time for sheer sloth and slack than we ever enjoy now, regardless of income or occupation, but once recovered from employment-induced exhaustion nearly all of us want to act. Oblomovism and Stakhanovism are two sides of the same debased coin.
---

Any thoughts on this anyone?

Also to get back to the weight thing. If one is really concerend about weight/speed/climbing a strong case could be made for buying a 20 inch Bike Friday.

You can buy a good Sub 20 pound Bike Friday bike at less than $ 2000. The small wheels will accelerate better, climb faster and allow you to draft way more efficiently. Additionally you get the folding functionality to boot. IMO cyclists have been deluded by history/tradition into using larger wheels than is necessary or beneficial. Let me just plug another excerpt from a page i have written:

Small wheels:
-climb better due to a smaller diameter that needs to be rotated.
-accelerate faster for the same reason.
-are more responsive - they turn and steer more easily - the feel is rather like having 'power steering' on your car.
-have a lower surface area, have lower wind resistance in headwinds.

When riding in a group, small wheels enable you to get closer together and draft better.

The design of many folders allows a smaller and and lighter overall package than a egular bike, and smallness and lightness are factors in going fast.

In fact tests have shown that up to 16 mp/h, the small wheel is more efficient than a big wheel. Between 16 and 33 mp/h there is little difference. Over 33 mp/h the gyroscopic effect of the big wheel makes it more effective. Most folks do not go over 33 mp/h. Source: 1984 Olympic Men's Road Race Gold Medal winner, Alexi Grewal during a conversation with Jeff Linder. Alexi owns a Pocket Rocket.
Note: 33 mp/h is more than 53 Kilometers per Hour! Even 7 time Tour De France winner Lance Armstrong (arguably the world's fastest and best cyclist) averaged just shy of 42 Kilometers per Hour in his last tour despite large wheels and skinny tires. The world cycling hour record is about 56 Kilometers per Hour and there are probably about a dozen guys in the world that can even get close to this. I for one know that i will never even be anywhere near to going 33 mp/h under my own power (just like 99,9% of humanity).

Remember that large wheels originated from a time where there were no such thing as gears - witness the direct drive Penny Farthing bike. Now, the size of the wheel can be optimized - and that optimal size is a lot smaller than 26" or more.

http://www.rhizomes.nl/twenty.html

Any more thoughts...?

Don't larger wheels help preserve rolling momentum? That's important to a lot of commuters.

That being said, I prefer the smaller mountain bike size wheels. I feel much more manuverable on them and they take more abuse than bigger ones. For me that makes the bike feel more fun.

Hey! Stop hijacking my thread! Where did this wheel/weight nonsense come from?!?

I love the fact that not one person even hinted at suggesting that we do WORK instead of slacking :D.

The problem with going for a bike ride, spider-man, is that most of us (office worker types anyway, especially salaried folks) are paid for attendence. As long as you're present at work, 40 hrs a week, you get the same paycheck. So spending 4 hours a day on BF, playing minesweeper, solitaire, whatever as long as you're sitting at your desk, is OK (as long as you don't get caught). Being outside riding your bike is not. :(

@ Jeff, my apologies ha ha, i think i had too many Threads open in my tabbed Browser, must have mixed up two replies. So though inappropiate, not non sensical i think :) Hope you don't mind too much?

Also, yeah that is the "dichotomy" problem with employment often. Anything that has a decent salary tends to be desk work that very often is full time. While part time work often pays less and can be a little more "free".

I am pretty lucky. I am a part time nightwatch (and can live off the pay and even buy some bike stuff) which in practice means 3 hours of work and up to 5 hours of (bike forum) surfing though i usually am rather tired after 2 hours surfing and do something else.

@ Foible, from what i understand the added momentum is minimal (especially if you get fast slicks) and it does not at all weigh up to the improved acceleration (i smoke all the other commuters at traffic lights ha ha ;) and climbing. Other benefits: the slightly shorter wheelbase allows you weave in and out of traffic without and drawbacks (axle distance is the same as is riding position on a good folding frame) lastly 20 inch is BOMBPROOF! Just look at BMX ers, i have tried my utmost to get a warp, impossible!

Slacking before computers was accomplished at the watercooler. With the advent of the WWW, we can now ignore our co-workers, sit at our desk, and multi-task our slacking. Our slacking is more productive than ever!

The same thing is true of high schools. Think of a time when your teacher sat chatting with the cheerleaders about the homecoming float; or think of the time when your crazy science teacher went off on a discourse about the appropriateness of hunting, because otherwise the animal population would somehow destroy society. And then think of how many times you asked if, instead of sitting there doing jack, you could leave.

And that answer was always 'No.'

Because attendance is more important than substance...

Agreed ... dont forget about the infamous xerox machines ... slackerfest 1980's style

Slacking used to be a social activity, but now it is a lot less so. Kinda sad, every aspect of our lives nowadays is becoming less and less socially interactive. <sigh>.

Bob Black once again (hope it isn't too high brow :)

other things being equal -- some things that are unsatisfying if done by yourself or in unpleasant surroundings or at the orders of an overlord are enjoyable, at least for a while, if these circumstances are changed. This is probably true, to some extent, of all work. People deploy their otherwise wasted ingenuity to make a game of the least inviting drudge-jobs as best they can. Activities that appeal to some people don't always appeal to all others, but everyone at least potentially has a variety of interests and an interest in variety. As the saying goes, "anything once."