On 11 Mar 2004 07:50:16 -0800, (wle) wrote:

of course it;s not primarily about cycling.
but the author claims to be a regular cyclist.

and the main character rides by default kind of.
his life is kind of going nowhere, after a
good start, he is stalled out as a writer, can't
get started on his 2nd book.

his relationships seem to amble indifferently.

the one constant thing he seems to do is bicycle.

he rides a mountain bike, 30-40 miles a day even in west
texas summers, even though by page 50 or so, he hasn't
once gotten off the road.

my technical question is terminology related.

the author has twice now referred to shifting to "higher and higher gears"
when going up hills.

obviously he means what i would call "lower gears" - easier to
pedal.

No. the protagonist is obvioulsy so strong up the hill that he can
actually accelerate--and in order to maintain a constant cadence, he
upshifts.

Weaker mortals like myself can do this on very gentle upgrades and
false flats. Grimpeurs can do it up real hills.

-Luigi