June Gloves
Sometimes the facts in my head get bored and decide to take a walk in my mouth. Frequently this is a bad thing. ~Scott Westerfeld
I’m thinking I’m going to move to a monthly glove “report” of sorts… just a little easier to compile them into one post. This isn’t to say that I haven’t been seeing them—quite the opposite. In many situations, I’ve been unable to stop and grab a shot. In others, I’ve simply taken a mental note to stop at another time… though this doesn’t always work (surprise, surprise).
About a week or so ago, I was in the locker room and overheard a couple colleagues going on about how one of ‘em had been seeing a bunch of gloves in the road lately. I couldn’t help but laugh. I mentioned this to G later and, when we were riding in to work on another day, he mentioned he’d been looking out for them. When I asked him if he’d seen the 4 I’d already noticed on that ride, he laughed, admitted he hadn’t and asked where and how I’d seen them. Selective perception, perhaps—my perception theories are a little rusty. Basically, something familiar becomes more easily noticed. I also admitted that I’ve been looking out for them for a while now, which has benefited me an ability to spot glove-like shapes from a distance.
The amount of sensory input we experience in general, but in more specific terms, while cycling, is pretty impressive. How, out of a field of vision filled with millions of points of input, while maintaining balance, micro and macro muscle movement and all the other body functions involved in riding a bike, often in traffic, one is able to spot a finite, obscure thing… that’s pretty cool. Makes me want to find another “target” to look out for. Any suggestions?
