That New Pavement Feel

I had the day off yesterday so I didn't notice until this morning's commute that the county had resurfaced Sligo Creek Parkway. Ahh there is nothing like that new pavement feel.

There are 3 elements that comprise what a ride feels like: the environment, your body, and your bike. Any time you remove most of the friction from the environment you are left with more bandwidth to experience the other elements. I equate it to the theory of a blind person having an increased awareness of their other senses. As long as your bike is behaving the other senses are usually pretty darn good.

Road vibration isn't something I'm really conscience of until someone takes it away. Now all of the sudden I'm more aware of the smell of the autumn, the wind through my mustache, and how comfy my handlebars are. Not that I wasn't before, it's just that I have become slightly more aware, and it's this awareness that can quickly lead to gratitude.