Okay, let’s say you come across the local upright cycling club on a Sunday morning. They have just come out of church, where they sing soprano in the choir, and as they come closer they mercilessly deride your recumbent and expound loudly on how comfortable their seats are.
Do you:
1) Whine and make excuses for your bicycle’s poor performance?
2) Lead the group on a scenic tour of the local environs, stopping frequently to smell the flowers?
or:
3) Put your mettle to the pedals, blowing past the pack and leave them bobbling helplessly in your wake? Crushing their spirits with such sure certainty that they are left but quivering shells, with you upholding the honor of recumbentdom by dealing them the shattering comeuppance they so richly deserve?
In the off chance that any of my readers are brute enough to choose #3, or if you just like going fast, we had best continue to investigate ways to reduce air drag:
http://www.recumbents.com/wisil/brown/airdragformula.htm