I guess I have another thing to blame on myself about the whole bicycle thingy...Seeing how I didn't eat or drink anything beforehand (it was about 12~2PM)...Not to mention I'm 5' 7 1/2'' & weigh 115lbs...*heh heh*
Meh, that's nothing. And no, Ms Black, I doubt he's anorexic. It's probably a mix of things like genetics, metabolism, stress, and eating/sleep patterns. That's what it is for me, at least. I'm 6'0 and 140lb, which probably works out the same as V's weight for height. I look awefully scrawny, but I never purposefully starve myself. I just tend to miss meals when I'm at school, not get enough sleep, be awefully stressed... coupled with metabolic and genetic factors, the weight's not a big surprise. I assume V is about the same. It might be a touch unhealthy, but speaking at least for myself, I'm not wholly unhealthy, and have at least a bit of stamina (I was able to do a 2.5km run in 15min without even slowing down at all during the run a few months ago. It winded me entirely at the end, but I survived it at least. After a bit of a rest I probably would have done another lap if I hadn't had a blister on my foot.)
Anyway, about bike riding, yeah, gears can be bloody helpful, but so can the weight of your bike. What sort is it? Road bike (bleh), mountain bike? Sort of a cross? I mean, I'm fortunate in that my bike probably only weighs a little over 20lbs and has twenty one speeds. What's the point? On the road, not much. I usually only keep things mid-gear on the road unless confronted with a VERY steep hill, or unless I get enough speed, in which case I start gearing down to increase my speed. But road biking is meh. I'm more prone to offroad stuff. That's where things like gears are helpful. When you're riding down a path that will variably go down 30degree and then up again, with roots all over it, mid range gears would be too difficult. You have to shift, well, on my bike I prefer what I call 1-3. On the major gear (front, I suppose, with three gears on it) have it on the big, easier gear, and on the back gear on the 3 (out of seven.) On the easier side, but anything more and you'll lose control over the roots and hit a tree or something. Not to mention that going above 10kph on a trail like that will be extremely rough, even with shocks (I've done it, though; I've gone down trails like that and hit roots at 25kph... lots of fun, actually.) Interestingly, I don't usually eat or drink anything around going biking either. Of course, you shouldn't eat JUST before, but even when I'm biking I tend not to drink water. Strange, but it doesn't bother me too much. I get really thirsty, but meh, I manage. I've actually not done much biking this year, though. Only once or twice. Snapped my chain, actually (first a rock bent one of the cogs, then the chain snapped.) Bleh. $150 to get repaired. But yeah, bikes are fun, and gears really do help.
Oh, and Kyronea, yeah, I know, the oil peak is probably near. But you wouldn't think it seeing the way this bloody province handles things. My parents are the opposite when it comes to energy consumption, particularly my dad. He designed the house I'm living in, and when he built it fifteen years ago he built it to energy conservation specs that would still be pretty good today.
