Times columnist ducks a Parris wire

From:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/com...cle3278710.ece

I have a small electronic milometer on my bicycle which, among other fascinating statistics (maximum speed, average speed, current speed), records the distance covered to two decimal places. Thus ten and two thirds of a mile shows up as 10.66, just shy of 16 and a half miles is 16.49, and so on. It will be seen immediately that although those figures represent mileage, they can also be read as dates, very famous dates in the case of the two examples.

Using this insight, I have developed a game combining my twin interests of cycling and general knowledge. The game is to think, as you pedal along, of something significant that happened on that date in the moment that your milometer registers it. Beautiful in its simplicity, no?

You haven't got long. One one-hundredth of a mile is 17.6 yards, or not much over 50 feet. In the time it takes to cover that distance, 14.15 (battle of Agincourt), say, to 14.16 (nothing immediately springs to mind) you've got to come up with a birth, a death, a treaty, a publication, an invention, an edict, an horrific brutal blood-soaked racist massacre, something, anything, of at least a modicum of historical importance. And then on to the next one. And the next, and the next, all the while, of course, keeping a watchful eye out for Matthew “Piano Wire” Parris, whose house I pass, ducking low, on the way to work. Not easy.


It continues. I wonder if he really passes Matthew "Piano Wire" Parris'
house.

--chris

On Sun, 03 Feb 2008 20:12:25 +0000
Chris Gerhard wrote:

Using this insight, I have developed a game combining my twin
interests of cycling and general knowledge. The game is to think,
as you pedal along, of something significant that happened on that
date in the moment that your milometer registers it. Beautiful in
its simplicity, no?

Hehe.

Takes me back to my later school and undergrad days, when for five
years I did a summer job of unskilled factory work to earn a few quid.
A lot of that involved large-scale repetition of a simple task,
often with a counter on a machine being used. So I'd play mind games
like that with the numbers as they passed.

--
not me guv

"Chris Gerhard" wrote in message
...

From:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/com...cle3278710.ece

I have a small electronic milometer on my bicycle which, among other
fascinating statistics (maximum speed, average speed, current speed),
records the distance covered to two decimal places. Thus ten and two
thirds of a mile shows up as 10.66, just shy of 16 and a half miles is
16.49, and so on. It will be seen immediately that although those figures
represent mileage, they can also be read as dates, very famous dates in
the case of the two examples.

Using this insight, I have developed a game combining my twin interests
of cycling and general knowledge. The game is to think, as you pedal
along, of something significant that happened on that date in the moment
that your milometer registers it. Beautiful in its simplicity, no?

You haven't got long. One one-hundredth of a mile is 17.6 yards, or not
much over 50 feet. In the time it takes to cover that distance, 14.15
(battle of Agincourt), say, to 14.16 (nothing immediately springs to
mind) you've got to come up with a birth, a death, a treaty, a
publication, an invention, an edict, an horrific brutal blood-soaked
racist massacre, something, anything, of at least a modicum of historical
importance. And then on to the next one. And the next, and the next, all
the while, of course, keeping a watchful eye out for Matthew “Piano Wire”
Parris, whose house I pass, ducking low, on the way to work. Not easy.


It continues. I wonder if he really passes Matthew "Piano Wire" Parris'
house.


He's probably the one who threw the bags of rubbish into the hedges! Must
have taken him months, and cost a fortune in fizzy drinks and chocolate.

In message
Chris Gerhard wrote:

The game is to think, as you pedal along, of something significant
that happened on that date in the moment that your milometer registers
it. Beautiful in its simplicity, no?

Err, but what happens to your frequent glances over your shoulder tp
make eye contact with the driver behind? If I tried this game I'd
loose cadence , find a twig or pothole, and generally get so
distracted.

Suppose I played it while I was driving? Scarey.


--
Charles
Brompton P6R-Plus; CarryFreedom -YL, in Motspur Park
LCC; CTC.

wrote in message

Err, but what happens to your frequent glances over your shoulder tp
make eye contact with the driver behind? If I tried this game I'd
loose cadence , find a twig or pothole, and generally get so
distracted.

I used to have a computer, but quickly took it off for that very reason.
Actually the problem was compounded by it having way too many screens and
fiddly buttons.

Jc

On 4 Feb, 06:33, wrote:

Err, but what happens to your frequent glances over your shoulder tp
make eye contact with the *driver behind? *If I tried this game I'd
loose cadence , find a twig or pothole, and generally get so
distracted.

Suppose I played it while I was driving? Scarey.

--
Charles
Brompton P6R-Plus; CarryFreedom -YL, in Motspur Park
LCC; CTC.

My first ride around the block after fitting my new cycle computer to
my Raleigh Mustang, at the age of about 12, ended with me lying on the
roof of the parked car I rode straight into while staring at the
little numbers clicking round. )

In message
ups.com
wrote:

My first ride around the block after fitting my new cycle computer to
my Raleigh Mustang, at the age of about 12, ended with me lying on the
roof of the parked car I rode straight into while staring at the
little numbers clicking round. )

I'd love an audible notification if my speed dropped below average.

You get something like that on some Mercedes cars.

Probably the battery drain would be too great.


--
Charles
Brompton P6R-Plus; CarryFreedom -YL, in Motspur Park
LCC; CTC.

wrote:

In message
ups.com
wrote:

My first ride around the block after fitting my new cycle computer to
my Raleigh Mustang, at the age of about 12, ended with me lying on the
roof of the parked car I rode straight into while staring at the
little numbers clicking round. )

I'd love an audible notification if my speed dropped below average.

As I remember, you can set up the Garmin Edge 305 to do something like
that. I have mine set up to tell me when my cadence drops below 75 rpm.

It's not the cheapest cycle computer, but it's very good.

Cheers,
Luke

--
Red Rose Ramblings, the diary of an Essex boy in
exile in Lancashire http://www.shrimper.org.uk

charlesA wrote

I'd love an audible notification if my speed dropped below average.

You get something like that on some Mercedes cars.

Probably the battery drain would be too great.


My God no! I find that the little flashing pace arrow on mine taunts me
into making my legs hurt.

Mike Sales

On 4 Feb, 23:21, wrote:


I'd love an audible notification if my speed dropped below average.

You get something like that on some Mercedes cars.



And I think most BMWs send an electric current through the driver's
seat if the speed drops below 90mph...