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Date: 26 Apr 2006 17:54:29
From: Hull 697
Subject: Optical Delusions
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Last weekend the GF and I had an interesting experience
We were taking a scenic ride, just tooling along a little too far apar
to converse. Watching the scenry of course. After the ride we starte
to discuss it and noted that we both, along the same stretch, so it wa
not just me, had the same illusion/delusion/whathaveyou
The bike just started slowing down. Should have been speeding up! Th
spin should have been getting lighter, not heavier. Tried shiftin
gears, listening for that awful flat noise, did I miss a headwind?
Work the brakes slightly, heavily. Reverse spin a moment to clea
imaginary problems
Finally had to accept that regardless of what we thought we wer
seeing, it was really an incline, not downhill
Wonder what causes that? And why are there always trees around
--
Hull 697
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Date: 27 Apr 2006 00:49:01
From: Edward Dolan
Subject: Re: Optical Delusions
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"Hull 697" <Hull.697.26v31p@no-mx.forums.cyclingforums.com > wrote in message
news:Hull.697.26v31p@no-mx.forums.cyclingforums.com...
>
> Last weekend the GF and I had an interesting experience.
>
> We were taking a scenic ride, just tooling along a little too far apart
> to converse. Watching the scenry of course. After the ride we started
> to discuss it and noted that we both, along the same stretch, so it was
> not just me, had the same illusion/delusion/whathaveyou.
>
> The bike just started slowing down. Should have been speeding up! The
> spin should have been getting lighter, not heavier. Tried shifting
> gears, listening for that awful flat noise, did I miss a headwind?
> Work the brakes slightly, heavily. Reverse spin a moment to clear
> imaginary problems?
>
> Finally had to accept that regardless of what we thought we were
> seeing, it was really an incline, not downhill.
>
> Wonder what causes that? And why are there always trees around?
I had a similar experience like that in the center of Wyoming on the Tour
de Wyoming several years ago. Everyone commented on it. It was like we were
going downhill, but we were really going slightly up hill. I thought I had
entered the twilight zone. I think it comes from the fact that you are
taking your cues from the roadside and not from the road. But the bicycle
never lies. It knows when there is even the slightest of grades.
k Twain swore that the ground in front of his house in New York was
perfectly flat, but the bicycle proved him wrong. It turned out there was a
slight grade after all which only the bicycle could detect. I don't think
our eyes can detect very slight grades.
Regards,
Ed Dolan the Great - Minnesota
aka
Saint Edward the Great - Order of the Perpetual Sorrows - Minnesota
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Date: 26 Apr 2006 12:35:05
From:
Subject: Re: Optical Delusions
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Hull 697 wrote:
> Finally had to accept that regardless of what we thought we were
> seeing, it was really an incline, not downhill.
>
> Wonder what causes that? And why are there always trees around?
I have a similar spot on my regular commute, on a heavily-trafficed
city street. Approached from either direction it appears to be a
moderate grade climbing to the south. Southbound I'm much faster than
I should be - level ground speeds, easily. Northbound I'm much slower
than I should be - only about level ground speeds. Yet I am convinced
by what my eyes tell me that there is a grade. This "false grade"
angles upward (heading south) in a definite - though still moderate -
climb to the south, which "acts like it should". I have no idea why
the disparity between what my eyes tell me and what the engine tells me
on the first section.
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Date: 26 Apr 2006 05:30:31
From: PhilO
Subject: Re: Optical Delusions
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Hull 697 wrote:
> Finally had to accept that regardless of what we thought we were
> seeing, it was really an incline, not downhill.
>
> Wonder what causes that? And why are there always trees around?
>
No trees around Electric Brae:
http://www.eureka4you.com/magnetichillworldwide/Ayrshire-UK.htm
PhilO
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Date: 01 May 2006 16:31:12
From: Hull 697
Subject: Re: Optical Delusions
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PhilO Wrote:
> No trees around Electric Brae
> http://www.eureka4you.com/magnetichillworldwide/Ayrshire-UK.ht
> PhilOWell, something else I missed when I lived in Scotland. I have, however
climbed Tap 'O Noth and had a bottle of Talisker before Seagrams bough
(and ruined) that fine whiskey
Thanks for the link, interesting
--
Hull 697
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