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#71273 05/27/02 01:23 PM
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Ok, so you ride a horse and bike (and a bike seat is called a saddle)

you drive a cart or wagon (or cattle) or a car

you pilot a ship or plane..

you also ride a scooter, or even the new segways..

riding is singular (generally) one person/one horse, one person/one bike, one person/one scooter, etc. you are in direct contol of the moving vehicle.

driving is a group (or a potential group,) and driving you are slightly removed from the engine. you drive a wagon, the horses/oxen/ponies, etc., up front, and you are directing them remotely.. other can ride while you drive..
same is true for a car.. the steering wheel is a remote contol for wheels, the brake and gas, remote controls for speeds, stopping.

you pilot something that moves in medium were gravity is not the only major forse to deal with (yes, friction, momemtum, and what is the fourth force in locomotion? never took physics, just read it for fun)

in a boat (or plane) Wind is your means of locomotion. you must harness the wind-- which is very different then harnessing horses or oxen or ponies or whatever!

and not just wind, but tides, and currents, and waves.. the factors in movement are very different (in planes its air speeds, altitude, wind (and wind shear) but again, very different than moving on land.. (oops.. you pilot vehicles that aren't on land? is that it?)


#71274 05/27/02 01:48 PM
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If one is to believe such TV shows as JAG military pilots will drive their planes.

That's a little understatement to make the taxpayers not worry about what it costs for them to do it! One will also hear pilots simply say that they fly their planes. One also hears military pilots called jet jockies. Now, where's the saddle on that firey steed?

As for Helen's calling a bicycle seat a saddle, yes, unless you haven't ridden much, in which case it's called a pain in the perineum and proximate tissues. After doing the 200-mile Seattle-to-Portland bike ride for the first time, I referred to its acronym (STP) as "Severely Traumatized Perineum!"


#71275 05/27/02 02:19 PM
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i read somewhere the reluctance to the new split seats (two rounded pad) is that a bike seat has been called a saddle, and it's current shape is a modified saddle (just as riding lawn mowers have saddle seats) and our 'mind set' of saddle is, interfers with the new seat, which is unsaddlelike.

while we are at it 'bucket seats'? so they really look like a bucket? i hate the sound of them. my car doesn't have a "bench seat" (could't really, i have 5 on the floor) but buckets seats? yeach!


#71276 05/27/02 02:33 PM
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buckets seats

When I was little and first heard this term, I thought it literally meant seats made of buckets, maybe with a bit cut out so you could stretch your legs out while sitting in it!


#71277 05/27/02 04:18 PM
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while we are at it 'bucket seats'?

I feel I am being pedantic, but still here goes! The bucket seat is found in the truly old fashioned style of sports car. It is formed to hug the body to keep you steady when taking those fast bends, and is almost semi-circular when seen from above. So with its low to the ground seat cushion, ‘cos the sports car is low to the ground, and the way it is shaped to grip you, it does look like a bucket with one side cut away. Otherwise there are bench seats and just plain seats, one each for passenger and driver, each like half a bench seat, separated by the gear lever and upper part of the gear box housing (preferably manual) and the transmission tunnel. When the American car makers took to putting the gear lever on the steering column it allowed the front seat to become a bench seat like the back seat.



#71278 05/27/02 04:33 PM
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#71279 05/27/02 04:41 PM
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i read somewhere the reluctance to the new split seats (two rounded pad)

As one who has put more than a few miles "in the saddle" of a bicycle, I can assure you that the so-called "comfort seats" for bikes are designed for those who have physical limitations that preclude sticking a proper saddle between their legs. Studies have shown that the most efficient position for extracting the most power from the human body long-term is the classic cyclist's position, i.e. with the torso bent at about 45 to 60 degrees, legs outstrecthed at the bottom ot the stroke to within six to ten degrees of flexion. It may hurt for a while, but if you want to go long-distance or fast on a bike, that's how you'll do it best. The human-powered airplanes all use the classic cyclist's position for their "engines." So, are the two-pad, or tractor seat-style bike seats "saddles" In the loosest of connotations, I recon so, but there IS a difference!

Bean and DXB, I think you're on the right track with regard to bucket seats! (Only the lady in the Britcom pronounces it "Bouquet!) My understanding is that it devolved from the design of WWII fighter aircraft seats, which had a "bucket" into which the parachute went, and the pilot sat on it. Those seats closely resembled post-war sports car seats, thus the name.


#71280 05/27/02 04:45 PM
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While perhaps ride implies a more intimate exposure
to the elements or at least some of them: ride a horse, motorcycle, or fighter-jet?


Have you never heard someone say of a car, "That's a nice ride?" Or a fine sexual experience as "a great ride?" Hmmmm... that one makes your point!


#71281 05/27/02 05:23 PM
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jet jockies?

Oh my Gawd No! Dear Geoff -- Jet Jockey or Jet Jock.
Like riding a thoroghbred horse (Jockey) being very athletic!(Jock)

Nothin to do with "tightie whities."


#71282 05/27/02 06:36 PM
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It seems obvious that ride vs drive originated with driving a horse attached to a vehicle.


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