How come bicycle clothing looks so silly?

In article ,
Tom Sherman writes:
Tom Keats wrote:
[...]
As for "fetish" transcending functional transportation, I
have two words: Lamborghini Countache. Mid-engine cars
are what you need to outrun the cops -- they're less
likely to wipe out on curves at speed than front-heavy
cars. And they're just the thing for doing those
3:30 AM 7-Eleven runs when you get the munchies.
... mmmmm ... pepperoni made from various unknown
animal fleshes and a bunch of spices to disguise the
funny taste ... drool[...]

Like this mid-engined high performance chick magnet
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/Toyota_Van_1.jpg?



I dunno. I don't wanna look at a Toyota van,
and I don't want a chick magnet. I don't need
any tainted pepperoni, and I don't need to outrun
the cops. I just wanna ride my bike. I just
need a day or two off from work, now that the
snow & ice has mostly melted away here.

This is the most odious time of the year in the
Northern Hemisphere. It's the Dark Night of the
Northern Hemisphere's Collective Soul. We need
each other, to cheer each other up. At least there's
some good deep-sky amateur astronomy stuff going on,
when the sky is clear, and one can withstand the chill.


cheers,
Tom

--
Nothing is safe from me.
I'm really at:
tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca

"Tom Sherman" wrote in message
...
John Thompson wrote:
On 2009-01-14, Tom Sherman wrote:

PatTX wrote:
::
:: In that case teachers would have been able to buy more than two
bikes
:: a day. Most teachers only work about 200 days a year, the rest is
:: just weekends and long holidays.

You just cannot be so stupid as to believe what you just posted.

Really? When I went to US K-12, it was 180 days/year, 8:30-15:30.

When you went to school US K-12 was it as a student or as a teacher?
Teachers do not work only the hours students are in attendence. I don't
know any teachers who don't take work home with them to be completed on
their own (uncompensated) time or who do not purchase materials for their
classes from their own (uncompensated) pockets. Those long summers are
often spent in curriculum development, continuing education, and/or
teaching summer school.

Most of the teachers in my school also drove school buses or had other
outside work, so they can not have been that busy. Nothing like the 50
weeks of 50+ hours expected of most salaried employees.

Maybe Mr. Sherman missed his true calling. He would have been an excellent
high school teacher of physics. Of course, this would have meant a huge
decline in his income (he is a civil engineer), but what does that matter
when you are considering the welfare of nations. But let's face it, who
wants to put up with crappie teenagers. Teachers need a summer respite from
teenagers or else they would go crazy.

College in the US is typically two 16-week semesters.

Never heard of "publish or perish" in academia?

Yes, and in those institutions, professors typically teach 2 classes a
semester, so only about 10 hours a week needs to be devoted to
instruction.

Professors are the most underworked class in American society today.
Whenever I encounter a professor, all I ever want to do is kick his dumb
ass. If the god damn dumb liberal media were not in cahoots with
academicians, they would write more articles about the scandal of higher
education in this country - where graduate students do all the hard work of
class room instruction and the g.d. professors get a free ride. I say ****
'em all!

Regards,

Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota
aka
Saint Edward the Great - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota

On Sun, 18 Jan 2009 18:22:39 -0800, in alt.war.vietnam
(Tom Keats) wrote:

I have two words: Lamborghini Countache...

I'm not real sure what you're trying to say; however, it sounds like
you're pointing out that one finds conspicuous consumption in many
other areas of our lives besides bicycles... if that is, in fact, your
point, then I will agree.

I'm just saying: a bike is a bike is a bike.

Oh. OK... I suppose I'd have to agree with that.

What's a Lamborghini Countache?

Jones

!Jones' Sock Puppet wrote:
On Sun, 18 Jan 2009 18:22:39 -0800, in alt.war.vietnam
(Tom Keats) wrote:

I have two words: Lamborghini Countache...
I'm not real sure what you're trying to say; however, it sounds like
you're pointing out that one finds conspicuous consumption in many
other areas of our lives besides bicycles... if that is, in fact, your
point, then I will agree.
I'm just saying: a bike is a bike is a bike.

Oh. OK... I suppose I'd have to agree with that.

What's a Lamborghini Countache?

Jones


A really ugly supercar. Not to be confused with it's predecessor, the
Miura, which is sex on wheels.

nate

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

!Jones' Sock Puppet wrote:
On Sun, 18 Jan 2009 18:22:39 -0800, in alt.war.vietnam
(Tom Keats) wrote:

I have two words: Lamborghini Countache...
I'm not real sure what you're trying to say; however, it sounds like
you're pointing out that one finds conspicuous consumption in many
other areas of our lives besides bicycles... if that is, in fact, your
point, then I will agree.
I'm just saying: a bike is a bike is a bike.

Oh. OK... I suppose I'd have to agree with that.

What's a Lamborghini Countache?

pedant probably a spelling mistake (no training 'e') /pedant?

As for "a bike is a bike is a bike", well, depends what you want to do
with it. Would Sam Whittingham have managed a world-record undrafted 81
mph, or would Chris Hoy have won 3 Olympic Golds, or Lance Armstrong 7
Tour de France, if they'd all been using, say, Dutch city bikes?

I have several bikes, because they all do very different things
particularly well. The Burrows 8 freight lets me do serious freight and
shopping duties easily, the Brompton folder is incredibly convenient for
short trips or if I need to integrate with other transport, my recumbent
tourer lets me soak up leisure miles all day in comfort. You can't
effectively substitute one for another, though all are bikes are bikes
are bikes.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

On Jan 16, 7:32 am, Peter Clinch wrote:
wrote:
On Jan 15, 7:30 pm, !Jones' Sock Puppet wrote:
On Thu, 15 Jan 2009 16:00:42 -0800 (PST), in alt.war.vietnam
You can buy a $70 bike at walmart, target, kmart. they'll ride fine
and can be used to commute.
Oh, in today's market, methinks I'd budget about $500 or so for a
decent commuter. Then about half again for the racks, fenders, and
panniers... those accesories ain't cheap!

Jones- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

So you would pay $750 when you could pay $70. The world is full of
crazy and queer fools.

A $70 might ride fine for, oooh, whole days before it starts showing why
it cost $70. If you want something that rides fine (a value of "fine"
that is *much* finer than the $70 Bicycle Shaped Object), and continues
to ride fine, and doesn't cover you in a stream of cack when the road is
wet, and carries luggage comfortably mounted on the bike rather than
uncomfortably on you, and doesn't have the wheels go out of true any
time you hit a big bump, etc., etc., etc. then you'll pay the higher price.


Let me offer an analogy:

[Background perspective] I used to collect old computers and so have
a bunch of experience with those heavy-duty IBM "clicky" (buckling
spring mechanism) keyboards, which offer a consistent tactile "feel",
are extremely durable and reliable.

I remember watching this guy in a workplace one time (there would be
no limit of other examples). He was using the OEM keyboard that came
with whatever commodity PC was installed there. One or more of the
keys was sticky or something and sometimes worked - sometimes not.
This poor guy kept occasionally mis-typing as a result and kept having
to go back and fix things. Each time you could see his annoyance and
aggravation, but apparently it wasn't enough trouble at any particular
time for him to realize how much aggregate difficulty could be
prevented if he just got a better keyboard. Aside from the seconds at
a time that it was stealing form their lives, that cheap-o keyboard
probably elevated the blood pressure thus shortening the lifespan of
everybody who operated it.

I have two words: Lamborghini Countache...
I'm not real sure what you're trying to say; however, it sounds like
you're pointing out that one finds conspicuous consumption in many
other areas of our lives besides bicycles... if that is, in fact, your
point, then I will agree.

(Tom Keats) wrote:
I'm just saying: a bike is a bike is a bike.

!Jones' Sock Puppet wrote:
Oh. OK... I suppose I'd have to agree with that.
What's a Lamborghini Countache?

It's Pagani's early design. Here's the nice one:
http://www.paganiautomobili.it/

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

In article ,
!Jones' Sock Puppet writes:
On Sun, 18 Jan 2009 18:22:39 -0800, in alt.war.vietnam
(Tom Keats) wrote:

I have two words: Lamborghini Countache...

I'm not real sure what you're trying to say; however, it sounds like
you're pointing out that one finds conspicuous consumption in many
other areas of our lives besides bicycles... if that is, in fact, your
point, then I will agree.

I'm just saying: a bike is a bike is a bike.

Oh. OK... I suppose I'd have to agree with that.

What's a Lamborghini Countache?

Acutally, it's properly spelled: Countach.
The trailing 'e' is an emacs control-character artifact/
keyboard failure.

Anyways, the Countach just another spendy, ugly car like
its successor: the Diablo.

Sometimes it's all too easy to spend a whole bunch of money
on something whose very existance is unwarranted, and sustained
only by mid-life crises.

I tend to exempt bicycles from that opinion, because I'm
biased and I like bikes. Heh ;-)


cheers,
Tom

--
Nothing is safe from me.
I'm really at:
tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca

On Mon, 19 Jan 2009 14:36:53 +0000, in alt.war.vietnam Peter Clinch
wrote:

I'm just saying: a bike is a bike is a bike.

Oh. OK... I suppose I'd have to agree with that.

As for "a bike is a bike is a bike", well, depends what you want to do
with it.

I don't know *how* I could be any more clear; I agree with it. It's a
tautologically true statement; its truth value is inherent and depends
upon nothing.

"Gold is where you find it."

"This man is as good as his word."

It's either Monday or it's some other day."

It is indisputably true and does not rely upon any interpretation of
the subject or context.

Only a moron would argue with: "A bike is a bike is a bike."

Jones

On Mon, 19 Jan 2009 10:52:14 -0800, in alt.war.vietnam
(Tom Keats) wrote:

What's a Lamborghini Countache?

Acutally, it's properly spelled: Countach.

I copied and pasted. I haven't a clue what it is; however, based on
the context, I assume it's some kind of an expensive car. If you have
a spelling issue, then talk to whoever brought it up in the first
place spelling it thus... it wasn't me. I wouldn't know one from a
concrete mixer and plan to keep it that way.

Jones