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I used to ride with a pretty lady named Glenna, and ... it was a lot more fun to be riding right behind her. Awesome view!It gives a whole new meaning to the term "tail-gating", TEd Tem.  I always thought bicycle racing was all blood, sweat and gears. But, in mixed company, it can be all about the view. It's not how you race, but how you make out at the finish line. There must have been more of a fight for Glenna's tail position than there was for the lead. Glenna obviously had a leg up on the rest of the field. And more than a leg, I suspect. This sounds more like a peeloton than a peloton to me, TEd Rem. As long as Glenna keeps her eyes peeled on the road ahead, everyone else can keep their eyes peeled on her rear. BTW this reminds me, TEd Rem, that the most beautiful things in life are not words, much as I admire words, but the things which we sense, through sight, and sound, and smell and touch, which excite our imaginations, and, in turn, our words.
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As long as Glenna keeps her eyes peeled on the road ahead ...Fortunately, there is a serious side to this ascertainment: [Q] From Mark Kleiman: “Can you enlighten me on the origin of the expression keep your eyes peeled or pealed?” [A] It’s spelt peeled, as in peeling an apple. It derives from an old verb pill, “to plunder”, which is the root of our modern word pillage. It came to us from the Latin root pilare, meaning “to take the hair off, pluck” (closely connected with our depilate), but which also had the figurative meaning of “plunder, cheat”, almost exactly the same as the figurative meaning of our modern verbs fleece or pluck. From about the 17th century on, pill was commonly spelt peel and took on the sense of “to remove or strip” in the weakened sense of removing an outer covering, such as a fruit. The figurative sense of keeping alert, by removing any covering of the eye that might impede vision, seems to have appeared in the US about 1850." http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-kee1.htm
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To me Plutarch, the analogy of peeled oranges and eyes is glaringly apparent. But, of course, some folks need the high authority of the WorldWideWeb to transform the obvious into hard fact. Now...stop avoiding your indiscretions. You and TEd both know that you have turned a serious discussion about "words" into a preadolescent discussion dealing with sex, viz. the female's "rear end". Well, I guess boys will be boys, but let me offer a little rhyme to get this thread back on its bicycle track... I used to ride behind a nice lady named Glenna,
But great was my desire to ride right between 'er
On a Id-ical day
In a sublimal way
I married a girl from Verbeena named Edwina.So, Plutarch, see how easy to take the high road if one's head is not in the gutter.
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a female's "rear end"A "female's rear end" can be a most admirable thing, themilum, and not only to a "preadolescent". Is it salacious to frolic with the forces of nature? I hope not. If Glenna rode high in the saddle, she may have been riding for more than the finish line herself. In any case, I managed to turn my attention to more scholarly investigations, and you steered me back to the rear of the peloton. You are a very cunning linguist, themilum.
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Now that, Plutarch, is funny.And I didn't even stick a smiley on the end of it, themilum. I was hoping it might go over the peloton. Looks like you've up-ended me again. Goes to prove what Dgeigh said. There's no "crumble zone" in a peloton. Needless to say, if you have to crash in a peloton, you're a lot better off with someone like Glenna in the lead. [Some in the rear might even be forgiven if they forget to brake.]
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journeyman
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So why do Canadian geese travel in a V, rather than in a peloton? I believe that by traveling in a V they use the same concept of aerodynamics that bikers do, but wouldn't it be more efficient if they used the same formation, this peloton, as bikers as well?
Some people say camping is boring. I say it's in tents.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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A U of M site says: In flight, flocks form large V's or diagonally straight lines. This is because each bird doesn't fly directly behind the others, but off to an angle. This minimizes drag on each individual bird, allowing them to take advantage of the slipstream created by the bird in front of them. http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Branta_canadensis.htmlI honestly don't know whether straight line or V-formation makes for better aerodynamics, but I do know that if bicyclists tried to ride in a vee they'd be very limited in numbers, because roadways aren't as wide as the sky!
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journeyman
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journeyman
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That's a good point. I'm sure the bicyclists would rather settle for slightly less efficient aerodynamics than take turns riding off the road because of a lack of space.
Some people say camping is boring. I say it's in tents.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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I read it as if the X formation was within the larger peloton. a team would use the X to best take advantage of the larger formation.
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