The Wheel or Fire?

                                   

I wonder if cave dudes/dudettes ever sat around arguing about what was more important, the wheel or fire. My guess is they did, much the way we might argue about Carbon vs. Ti. Well, this weekend I've experienced the importance of both. Yesterday I sat around a quality fire in my back yard discussing the ways of the world with my Dad. We did what people do around a fire, we stared at it, we poked it, we occasionally even tried to warm up by it. We didn't cook over it, but we've done that many times and it works! I love fire. No, I don't love it like I've got to burn stuff to feel alive, more like I love that feeling fire gives you - security and a little fifteen foot circle you can call home while you're there.

Now, the wheel. Whoo, a lot can be said for the wheel. Like fire a real game changer. I seriously empathize with the cave guy who was responsible for moving stuff. His life was rough to say the least, until the round thing showed up. I can only imagine he found a quiet place all to himself and went nuts with joy, dancing around, doing some yelling, maybe he even fist bumped his buddy later on. His plight took a turn for the exponentially easier, because of the wheel!

I consider myself a guy who moves stuff, usually myself. Recently, I've been struggling with a wheel on my commuting bike that has been in it's death throws for a couple months now. I finally cracked last week, scoured the Internet for the cheapest wheel that wasn't made of stone and bought it. I put this wheel on my bike yesterday and rode it for the first time this morning. Sure it's heavy, but I'm a man of minimal needs. This most basic of wheels drastically changed the performance of my bike. The rear end of the machine no longer wiggles when I shift my weight. The bike no longer clunks side to side in the back end when I climb due to the hub flopping around. I mean I actually felt the power I was putting into the pedals coming out of the bike - imagine that!

So, Fire vs. Wheel? My vote goes to the wheel. Where do you stand?