Tweed Ride and Parametric Space

4/30/11 #226
7 miles

Tweed photos from Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Cleveland, DC, SanFran.


There are no bad rides, only rides of varying difficulty and pleasure, goes the received wisdom. But if there were such a thing, today was almost a bad ride.

Beautiful day, 63F, I got on the bike after seven days off. In five miles I was sitting on the grass and not feeling very well.

I had not eaten, and I had overdressed and then stubbornly persisted in it. It is remarkable how each 10F degrees affects the clothing issue; I was dressed for 40, it was 63, and I overcooked.

In the 60's Dr. Nicholas Rescher at the University of Pittsburgh described what he called "parametric space", the concept of a matrix constrained by parametric ranges.

For instance, life on earth as we know it (LOEAWKI) exists within a parametric space bound by temperatures from -40 to +140F, with barometric pressure between x and y, etc - and if reality moves outside of parametric space then the construct collapses, and with it the phenomena that we are enthusiastic about (life, for instance).

So based on geometry we can describe a 3-d space, but when we add other spectrums we can define different spaces, including those with boundaries defined by energy states. The recognition of sound waves, radio waves, etc. allows us to define new parametric spaces that our original sensors could not describe.

Further, when we've exhausted the conclusions we can draw on the basis of complete sensory apprehension (everything we can see, hear, etc), then increases in information and knowledge require expansion of the parametric space through new techniques - electron microscope, radio telescopes, etc.

As I sat on the grass waiting to feel better I thought about Dr. Rescher and his parametric spaces, and I thought about how narrow my own parametric ranges are - I really do have to keep my blood sugar and food-energy levels in a certain range, and I need to accurately dress for the temperatures - dressing for 40 in 63 didn't work real well, and being stubborn about it was foolish.

So while I was sitting on a hillock of grass along the road, which was in fact somebody's property, the owner came out and approached me. You OK, he asked, which I thought was very nice, and I explained that I was just catching my breath. He said, Sure, I just wanted to check, and I used to be a bike mechanic so I thought I'd offer if you needed help. That was a bit of serendipity.

It's not flooding, no tornadoes, and it didn't snow. Rode 7 miles.

4/30/11 Week 17 // Miles this week: 7
//Miles 2nd quarter: 274 // miles this year: 585