This spring I started a new hobby of bicycling. Now I know you might be thinking geeks and exercise are as different as Tom Cruise and sanity but once I started I found some suprising parallels between bicycling and Role Playing Games.

In your typical RPG you start out with the bare minimum equipment and as you progress through the game you find or buy new equipment that gives you slightly better stats. It could be a sword that gives you +5 strength, or a shield that gives you +1 resistance to fire. These slight improvements won’t be noticable right away but they do add up over time. As I was buying gear for my bike I saw the same thing. The lighter the components are the faster the bike is going to go. A jersey and shorts can give you +5 resistance to wind. In RPGs you have to find the proper balance to make your character most efficient. On the bike you have to balance comfort versus speed. A gel seat will be more comfortable but it also weighs more so you won’t be as fast. Unfortunately bicycling gear doesn’t have the cool names that RPG gear has. At the bike shop I have never seen The Carbon Fork of Victory or Lance’s Waterbottle of Destiny. Other than that I find the two hobbies to be pretty similar. Bicycling sure does use up all my gold anyway.