Weightlessness
I never paid much attention to road surfaces. Now that I have been entrusted a FLYER eBike and sit on it for the better part of my days; road surfaces have acquired a totally different meaning. They can have the same effects on the soul as landscapes. You can get cheered by them infinitely or thrown into a state of despair. It’s a matter of smoothness. On one occasion in a flat river valley surrounded by pine forests and poplars lining the road on both sides, the smoothness of the recently laid concrete surface was so perfect, that the ground disappeared. The effortless advance in a windless channel had a wonderful levitating quality to it. But this dream state has been the exception. In general toll free roads have much older rougher surfaces full of friction and are heavily deformed. Big lorries loaded with wood that speed us passed (on their way to one of the many wood chip processing plants) extract a toll on the road surface and on our nerves. There are bumps, cracks, repair patches, wholes, stones, speed breakers, laying policeman. When a truck speeds by it causes a shock, first the noise blast then the air mass pushes you aside and forward. For a moment you pick up considerable speed no matter how slow the surface you’re riding on, the difference between your actual speed and the speed increase can make you feel weightless for a split second.