Kyle Banerjee's Blog

This past Saturday, I rode in the Seattle to Portland (STP) bicycle classic with Terry Reese and Bryan Miyagishima. If you’re not familiar with the STP, it’s a major cycling event where 9,000 cyclists ride just over 200 miles starting at the University of Washington and ending in downtown Portland.

As far as long rides go, the STP is a blast. Most people ride the STP in two days, but we did it in one this year. Shirley thinks it’s a macho thing, but that’s not it at all. Terry, Bryan, and I are decent cyclists, so it’s fun to go for a ride where training actually comes into play. The whole reason for training countless hours in miserable conditions and spending thousands of dollars on nice equipment is so you can enjoy challenges and experiences that would otherwise be unattainable.

Besides, most people enjoy watching others do something they’re good at. Even if all someone is doing is nailing shingles to your roof, it is a pleasure to watch a master at work. On major rides, people who have no idea who you are get excited and cheer as you pass. Kids like to slap your hands. Even motorists who ask you where you started and where you’re finishing smile when you tell them — if you don’t bike much, the idea that someone could pedal 200 miles in one day is pretty cool.

People like to watch the riders, but they also like to see all the fancy equipment. You should see all the attention Bryan attracts with his custom built titanium highracer. I don’t have a good picture yet, but let’s just say it’s one cool bike.

Just in time for the 4th of July weekend, we finally got broadband installed — we went from a 56K modem (that normally connected at 44Kbs) to a 5MB/s fiber optic connection.

I like not having to wait forever to download photos or updates for my computer but I’m leery of making life too convenient. When ready made food is everywhere, people eat too much and forget how to cook — paradoxically causing everyone to be overweight even though there’s nothing good to eat. Email and instant messaging have altered the way people communicate so profoundly that many people don’t seem to be able to write a coherent sentence.

Although I think the internet is basically a good thing, it is also harmful if used excessively. One of the advantages of a crummy connection is that there’s no incentive to use the internet unless it’s really important — this forces me to live in the real world rather than in cyberspace.

Although the internet has allowed the world to share information at a level that was never possible before, it has also allowed society to fragment into zillions of tiny subcultures. Each has its own conventions, and it seems like too many people rarely venture outside the virtual groups they associate with. As a result, they prefer relating to machines rather than people have trouble dealing with those who are different from themselves.

The good news is that the internet allows you to contact almost anyone anywhere anytime and maintain contacts and friendships that would otherwise be impossible. In that sense, cyberspace is a good place to be so long as too much time is not spent there.