Bikes make you aware of the power of your legs.

Weird gendered thing about the top versus bottom halves of your body: most women I know are aware of how strong their legs are, whereas when a bloke thinks about his strength, like he's gonna try and move something heavy, he tends to think of his arms and chest and back. I've seen many fresh new trans lads suddenly becoming more aware of their shoulders or biceps for example.

Which, like, even a really strong person's arms don't have nearly as much torque or endurance as the most thoroughly ordinary leg. So after a couple of times of looking down at my little ten-dollar Sunding speedo/odometer and seeing Just How Far I'd gone, I think it kinda altered my relationship with my legs? Like now, when I have to do something that needs a lot of strength, even like unscrewing a big rusted bolt, I keep thinking of how this would be much easier if I could let my legs do it instead of my arms? I move differently, I stand differently, I'm more aware of this whole half of my body I've been under-using

And I say this to the women and femme and AFAB people in my life and they're like ??? you didn't know??, and the not-bike-riding cis blokes I talk to about it go ??? oh huh yeah I guess, wild???

It's almost as if modern american carcentric life has hidden my whole entire legs from me lol