Cool Cats Take To Cycling Like A Fish Takes To Water

Most cyclists are cool cats. Would this make cool cats cyclists? Well, apparently, the answer is “yes.”

Cats can, and do, ride bicycles. Not by themselves, of course, but with help from their cool cat cyclist human companions. As an aside, for those of you who are unfamiliar with cats, cats do not have owners. They have human companions who provide food and shelter for them.

In other words, cats are very independent creatures. No one bosses them around. If you try to call their name to get them to come to you, you’d better have food or some other form of cat bribe handy, or they will ignore you — even if you are their “owner” in your own mind.

Cats call the shots. It’s their way or no way, and they make no secret of it.

Cats are also great acrobats, jumpers and climbers. Their balance and agility is nothing short of amazing. Simply put, cats are graceful, natural athletes and independent thinkers all rolled into one. Just like human cyclists. This is why cool people are referred to as “cool cats” and cats can be cool cyclists.

Don’t believe me? Just take a look at the video below. It features a cat riding a bicycle.

This is truly amazing because the cat learned how to ride a bike without any instruction. It instinctively knew how to adjust its balance while perched on a moving, swaying object. And, it wasn’t afraid of the speed or of falling from a moving object. In fact, the cat looks content and right at home cruising along on a bike.

Riding in a car, as dogs like to do, doesn’t require the same sort of talent. No offence to the dog lovers among us, but the natural propensity dogs have for cars may say something about people who think that everyone should just drive a car everywhere. You know, the pro-car, anti-cyclist, anti-public transportation types. As the saying goes: dogs resemble their owners. It doesn’t take a cool sophisticated person to sit still in a car while the vehicle transports them from point A to point B.

The lack of independence dogs show, with respect to riding in cars, and other dog-like behaviors, may reveal a hidden trait of car owners. What they lack in independence, they make up for by hiding behind the “coolness” of their cars.

Cyclists are cool. Drivers have cool cars. See the difference?

And the two groups fight like cats and dogs. Cyclists, who are a fiercely independent lot, want their mode of transportation to be recognized as legitimate. They will not sit on their hind quarters like docile dogs drooling for a doggy treat. This approach seems too much like a dog riding in a car with its head sticking out of the window. That’s as close as most dogs will ever get to riding a vehicle. Riding in a vehicle is more their speed.

Cyclists want the freedom to ride where they please and want the infrastructure in place to allow them to do this. A cyclist is his or her own transportation. Cycling, unlike driving, is not a passive activity.

Drivers, on the other hand, stand firm, without moving a muscle. They want no change to the status quo and will fight cyclists at every turn. The former group moves, the later stands motionless, and when the two meet, a gauntlet is inevitably thrown down and the road ownership battle begins.

But, back to the cats. What would make a cat want to ride a bicycle? Cats are adventurous. Riding a bike can broaden a cat’s horizons. By bike, a cat can travel farther faster than he ever could on foot.

Wind blowing in his fur is probably invigorating, not to mention the cooling effect. And he can watch the world go by as he moves through it without the use of his feet.

Doesn’t this sound a lot like the experience of a human cyclist? Decidedly so.

Take a good look at the bicycle riding cat, with its perfect balance and curious mind. Then ask yourself, “how different from a human cyclist is this cat?” Whatever the differences, they must be subtle because it’s self-evident that both cyclists in the video below are cool cats.

 

 

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