Sunday, July 4, 2010

Red and Black Beats Powder Blue and--Gasp!--Yellow?

Watching the Tour time trials or "Prologue" yesterday, which seemed like waiting for the real race to begin (five miles down, 2000 to go), I found myself reading Tim Krabbe’s (insert accent mark where appropriate) The Rider during commercials and wondering if the trick of putting your water bottle in your back pocket to make your bike lighter really works. Which led me to think, What if the color of jerseys makes a psychological difference? Lance looked pretty ferocious in the red and black, especially compared to Alberto’s blue and yellow. It’s like venomous snake versus pretty flower.

So what color would my psychologically-appropriately-colored shorts and jersey be? Probably rainbow-colored, with the capacity to respond to how many dopamine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dopamine) receptors are stranded at a given moment. Bright red when I’ve just climbed a steep hill and the dopamine is flowing like water. Blue when I’m just starting out. Pinks and greens for coasting.

No comments:

Post a Comment