As I rode my bike today on my 9 mile loop on the countryish roads around my house I looked down at my odo and contemplated the following:
On Father's Day 2010, my sons gave me the odo for my bike. My mountain bike. I calibrated it and checked it against my known 9 mile loop that I had checked with my car. It was close. After a hiatus of riding my bike, I finally switched from my knobs to my road tires for some summer time riding on the roads. They are smaller in diameter. Not much, but enough to cause the kickstand to be a little long and the bike to be a little tippy when on flat surfaces. The odo, on my proven 9 mile loop now reads 10.36 miles at the end. That's a pretty good jump.
So, my question is this (and don't just answer without some contemplation 'cause that's the fun part)
Is the energy expended for my good ole 9 mile ride just increase 15%? Because the driving system (wheels, chain, pedals, cranks, me) just rode reduced sized wheels which caused add'l revolutions, did I get a better work out without actually riding further (geographically)? Or did the reduced sized wheels, reducing the effort to rotate them, cause me to have a lesser workout? OR did the reduced diameter wheel assembly cause which takes more effort to travel over rocks, animals, bumps and edges, increase my workout? OR again, did I just time travel?
Kind of the like speed of light question that some were asked in school. For those who do not know it, here it is.
If you were in your car, traveling at the speed of light and you turned on your headlights, would?
a) your headlights extend in front of you, thusly at twice the speed of light?
b) your headlight filaments burn in two due to the immense heat because the light and heat are trapped in the headlight bulb?
c) your headlights shine brightly on your rear bumper?