Just for our own amusement, my son (6 yrs. old) and I, riding our Rans
Screamer the other evening, did a 2.5 mile time trial on the circle
drive around the nearby sports stadiums.

The route is best described as "rolling hills"--low speed about 10MPH,
high speed about 28MPH.

We did it in 8:04 (18.6 MPH). (OK, neither of us is exactly Lance
Armstrong.)

So yesterday I decided if I ditched the kid & the 50 lb. bike I could
probably do better.

So I stripped all the excess junk off my Rans Rocket & rode the exact
same course.

Result? EXACTLY 8:04, again.

(Well, within 1 second, anyway.)

Coincidence, or what?

I guess the moral is that I can lug around an extra 75 lbs at all
times, and have it make no difference! (Well, the 6-yr-old DOES
pedal, so that makes up for at least some part of the extra 75 lbs . .
.. )

Or that the old saw is true--it's the engine, stupid.

The only spoiler is, that when I got home I found that my Rocket tires
were both at 60 lbs. Usually I keep them at 100 lbs, and that does
make a noticeable difference. The Screamer tires were at 95 lbs, just
where I usually keep them.

I guess I must go for try #3, to see if it's a tie-breaker.

--Brent
bhugh [at] mwsc.edu