Your optimum psi
Friday, June 15, 2012 at 01:20PM Having raced a hard 10K the other evening and then hobbled stiffly and slowly round my morning mile the next day, I decided that it was about time that I pumped up my bicycle tyres before I headed into town, as I'd noticed for a while that they were quite a bit softer than they should be.
So here's the thing - I'd noticed that they were below their ideal pounds per square inch (psi) recommended range for several weeks and yet I'd ignored this fact and continued to ride my bike with soft(ish) tyres.
Why did I do this?
Because it always felt like I was in a hurry and too busy to stop and pump up the tyres, and it didn't seem like a big deal to leave it to the next day.
But when the next day arrived, the same thing happened turning into the next day after that and so on.
It was only when my legs felt really tired after my race the night before and in need of some extra help that I got round to doing the pumping.
As the whole pumping the tyres process took approximately five minutes and it immediately helped me to pedal with less effort, why did it take me so long to get round to doing it?
Why do I put off doing something for weeks that only takes five minutes, and will probably save me those five minutes in cycling time within a week?
I kept managing to fool myself that I was too busy and that I would pump up the tyres tomorrow. Every day I only looked at the situation that day and didn't project what I'd save myself in the future.
Ridiculous I know, but where else in my life could I be operating well below the psi I need to be effective because I'm only looking at the short term?
Where else would it be worth me stopping and spending five minutes to boost my own psi?
What about you?
Reader Comments (1)
The misconception of the false economy of time... A good lesson.
Don't put off until tomorrow what you can achieve today.
Sometimes small things make a BIG difference.
Thanks for the insights :-)