Is this another way of describing what Steven Covey called "Sharpening the Saw?" You can saw wood all day, and of course in the very short run you're always more productive sawing than sharpening, but in the medium or long term, you're better off sharpening the saw before you start cutting.
I see "bicycle work" and "real-time work" as basically the same thing. In other words, you do "bicycle work" so that you can do "real-time work" successfully later.
In programming terms, this would be like taking the time to learn your language so that you can effortlessly interact with it and think about it without really thinking about it. Or learning your editor so you can move around your document on a subconscious level.
Improving your editing skills (one of my glaring weaknesses) are a near-perfect example of sharpening the saw. You already use an editor, now you're learning to use it faster.
I guess if we're going to play with the metaphor, learning to use a bicycle is not sharpening the saw, it's learning to use a new and better tool.
So if we go with editors, learning to type faster is sharpening the saw, just like training to walk faster. But switching to Emacs is like learning to ride a bicycle where you used to run.
If we are going with 7 Habits metaphors, "learning the bicycle" would be like doing Quadrant 2 tasks, the Important but not Urgent tasks. Activities which don't bring anything in the short term, but will make your life easier in the long run.
