The work done on a body is proportional to the force on the body times
the distance the body moves while the force is applied.

SI units are designed to make the calculations neat: if you push with
a force of one newton through a distance of one meter, you do one
joule of work.

So if you pedal twice as fast, you can do twice as much work without
pushing any harder.

Of course, there ain't no such thing as a free lunch. When you spin
faster, you burn more sugar and breath more oxygen.

But it's easier -- and more fun -- to eat a candy bar than to wait for
muscles to rest.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Since I have weak lungs, I have to rest anyway, if there isn't a long
stretch of easy pedalling after a long steep hill, but paying off an
oxygen debt takes five minutes; resting an exhausted muscle takes two
days.

I've become fond of a stand of arborvitae at the top of a hill on
200 S. I've only stopped there twice, but I think my next long trip
will be to Mentone, and I come back from Mentone by 200 S. It will be
comforting to know that the arborvitae are there.

It wasn't as comfortable on my second stop, because the owners had
done some spring cleaning on the leaf litter. They also left
sharpened weed stumps concealed in the remaining litter.

--
joy beeson at comcast dot net
http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/
The above message is a Usenet post.
I don't recall having given anyone permission to use it on a Web site.