View Full Version : "Why we ride" thread
oldpotatoe
03-08-2018, 07:13 AM
Why it's sometimes called 'mechanical meditation'..neat article.
https://cyclingtips.com/2018/03/mourning-ride-when-times-get-tough-a-simple-spin-can-work-wonders/
That was an excellent read. I'm a pudgy middle-aged rider for whom riding is one of the only things that I can do that will bring me to my "centre" when there is chaos around me. This article says it way better than I could ever.
Tickdoc
03-08-2018, 07:40 AM
good read.
"I had solved nothing, but I had fixed something."
KonaSS
03-08-2018, 08:32 AM
IMHO - Cyclingtips has really grown to be the best all around cycling website. Daily updates, covering tech, racing, social, issues......Really has upped the ante for all other general cycling sites.
That was a nice way to start the day. Thanks.
redir
03-08-2018, 09:39 AM
Yup. Pretty much.
paredown
03-08-2018, 10:00 AM
Great read, thanks!
Great read. A little bit of a gut punch but I really liked it
Agreed, great article.
The one that will always stand out for me would be 9/11. We were all basically paralyzed in front of the news at the office that day. They finally just closed our office and sent everyone home.
That was my first full season of riding, I went home and rode most of the afternoon to clear my head.
bikingshearer
03-08-2018, 01:26 PM
I get it. I suspect we all do on some level.
On most of my rides, my mind wanders off into stuff of one sort or another that I am dealing with. It is rarely, if ever, as life-and-death as the author's - it's usually pretty trivial in the greater scheme of things - but I totally get feeling better at the end of the ride because of it.
Like the author, I have not solved anything; unlike the author, I really haven't fixed anything, either. But I have let out into the open stuff that is usually half-hidden in the shuffle of day-day out living. Just doing that can be incredibly . . . I guess the word is "cleansing."
That feeling is tied with that wonderful hours-later very slight tingle in my legs for the best part of riding.
yakstone
03-09-2018, 08:12 AM
Good read.
Thanks for the link Peter.
FreiburgDe
03-09-2018, 09:18 AM
Good essay. When non-cyclists ask why I love the bike so much, I tell them because it makes me feel strong and because it's a kind of psychological release. The reactions vary. Some people understand, and others look at me with concern as if they're pondering whether I'm a little crazy. It doesn't much matter to me what they think. For me, two of the main sources of transformative life experience are riding a bike, preferably on a hilly route, and making music with an ensemble. The author of this article captures the meditative and transcendent experience (endorphin high) I feel when I roll on two wheels under my own power. Seize every day to experience that feeling.
MattTuck
03-09-2018, 09:26 AM
IMHO - Cyclingtips has really grown to be the best all around cycling website. Daily updates, covering tech, racing, social, issues......Really has upped the ante for all other general cycling sites.
Except if you visit enough times, you might accidentally buy a Bellroy riding wallet. :rolleyes:
MikeD
03-09-2018, 10:00 AM
A Bicycle Zen Koen
The definitive answer to the question we most wonder about, "Why do we ride?"
A Zen Teacher saw five of his students return from the market, riding their bicycles. When they had dismounted, the teacher asked the students, "Why are you riding your bicycles?"
The first student replied, "The bicycle is carrying this sack of potatoes. I am glad that I do not have to carry them on my back!" The teacher praised the student, saying, "You are a smart boy. When you grow old, you will not walk hunched over, as I do."
The second student replied, "I love to watch the trees and fields pass by as I roll down the path." The teacher commended the student, "Your eyes are open and you see the world."
The third student replied, "When I ride my bicycle, I am content to chant, nam myoho renge kyo." The teacher gave praise to the third student, "Your mind will roll with the ease of a newly trued wheel."
The fourth student answered, "Riding my bicycle, I live in harmony with all beings." The teacher was pleased and said, "You are riding on the golden path of non-harming."
The fifth student replied, "I ride my bicycle to ride my bicycle." The teacher went and sat at the feet of the fifth student, and said, "I am your disciple."
tylercheung
03-09-2018, 10:28 AM
Except if you visit enough times, you might accidentally buy a Bellroy riding wallet. :rolleyes:
Think of it as a "subscription fee"!
bob heinatz
03-09-2018, 10:35 AM
I enjoyed the article. The bike is a great place to reflect on life.
Drmojo
03-09-2018, 10:41 AM
A Bicycle Zen Koen
The definitive answer to the question we most wonder about, "Why do we ride?"
A Zen Teacher saw five of his students return from the market, riding their bicycles. When they had dismounted, the teacher asked the students, "Why are you riding your bicycles?"
The first student replied, "The bicycle is carrying this sack of potatoes. I am glad that I do not have to carry them on my back!" The teacher praised the student, saying, "You are a smart boy. When you grow old, you will not walk hunched over, as I do."
The second student replied, "I love to watch the trees and fields pass by as I roll down the path." The teacher commended the student, "Your eyes are open and you see the world."
The third student replied, "When I ride my bicycle, I am content to chant, nam myoho renge kyo." The teacher gave praise to the third student, "Your mind will roll with the ease of a newly trued wheel."
The fourth student answered, "Riding my bicycle, I live in harmony with all beings." The teacher was pleased and said, "You are riding on the golden path of non-harming."
The fifth student replied, "I ride my bicycle to ride my bicycle." The teacher went and sat at the feet of the fifth student, and said, "I am your disciple."
Is framed in high grade paper nice calligraphy script on my wall
I got it in 1991
truer every day
“bike larking” is my latest mode of riding
I think most organized riding is in the rear view mirror for me
kingpin75s
03-09-2018, 11:12 AM
Out on the night hall road again
I'm leaving and turning upon a friend
Please close the door, let us talk no more
It's out here I may find my reasons for
Hanging and burning upon a tree
Bicycle tire to guide me
-Hot Chip
In truth, road and gravel riding allows me to think, grind and work through things, however I find the present moment of mountain biking to be the most therapeutic.
victoryfactory
03-09-2018, 11:51 AM
Bicycling Magazine did a special edition several years ago that had a printed crawl along the pages with various bike related quotes. One of them was:
Why do I ride my bicycle? "Because it feels like flying"
That has always stayed with me.
VF
ripvanrando
03-09-2018, 12:06 PM
My wife: What do you think about on long rides?
Me: Nothing
My wife: What do you feel?
Me: Like a machine
It has something to do with breathing and feeling your energy melt into the pedals upon a sight and at a sufficient pace upon a long distant place where the faint embers are too dim to see in the mirror. Then, it is time to turn around.
bobswire
03-09-2018, 12:34 PM
Bicycling Magazine did a special edition several years ago that had a printed crawl along the pages with various bike related quotes. One of them was:
Why do I ride my bicycle? "Because it feels like flying"
That has always stayed with me.
VF
It releases you from the bounds of old age and enables you to glide, soar and descend much like you did as a young man or at least it has for me.
rousseau
03-09-2018, 12:47 PM
A Bicycle Zen Koen
The definitive answer to the question we most wonder about, "Why do we ride?"
A Zen Teacher saw five of his students return from the market, riding their bicycles. When they had dismounted, the teacher asked the students, "Why are you riding your bicycles?"
The first student replied, "The bicycle is carrying this sack of potatoes. I am glad that I do not have to carry them on my back!" The teacher praised the student, saying, "You are a smart boy. When you grow old, you will not walk hunched over, as I do."
The second student replied, "I love to watch the trees and fields pass by as I roll down the path." The teacher commended the student, "Your eyes are open and you see the world."
The third student replied, "When I ride my bicycle, I am content to chant, nam myoho renge kyo." The teacher gave praise to the third student, "Your mind will roll with the ease of a newly trued wheel."
The fourth student answered, "Riding my bicycle, I live in harmony with all beings." The teacher was pleased and said, "You are riding on the golden path of non-harming."
The fifth student replied, "I ride my bicycle to ride my bicycle." The teacher went and sat at the feet of the fifth student, and said, "I am your disciple."
Can't help it, I'm a sucker for zen stuff.
VoyTirando
03-10-2018, 09:33 PM
It took me back to the summer after I got off crutches, ten months on them after a climbing accident, and the first thing I did was get out my full suspension, heavy, unwieldy mtb and ride 3 miles. I struggled to ride 12 mph and when I finished I was dizzy with happiness. In fact weeping with happiness. I still had a 'boot' on the recovering fracture. Two months later I was putting in 150 miles/week on a poprad cross bike (the MTB got mailed to my brother in Utah, who promptly broke it in half in a terrain park), and eventually I found fast bikes and learned to build up my bikes as I wanted them, too. That was 13 years ago. Cycling has kept my head and heart together many times since, both the riding and the building, and of course the friendships.
alancw3
03-11-2018, 05:01 AM
great read! thanks for sharing.
paredown
03-11-2018, 05:40 AM
It releases you from the bounds of old age and enables you to glide, soar and descend much like you did as a young man or at least it has for me.
^This^
A woman-seventy-ish--with whom I was starting a tour with sat beside me on the little bus they had organized to get us safely out of town--bikes were in a small trailer following.
She was in remission at that point as I found out later as I got to know her over the weeks that followed...
"You know why I like to ride?' she said conspiratorially. 'It makes me feel like a kid again!'
soulspinner
03-11-2018, 06:04 AM
Great stuff. I can identify.
overmyhead
03-11-2018, 08:17 AM
Great read.
A quote from a recent feature that I read stuck with me personally.
While on the bike he asks;
"Do you have a spiritual practice?"
I answer;
"This is it".
Johnnysmooth
03-12-2018, 04:13 PM
Dealing with my own, pretty serious health issues, riding a bike I am sure has helped me both mentally and physically.
That being said, as I retreat to the basement for a Swift session - it just has no comparison to being outdoors where I can fall into a meditative, Zen-like trance as I roll along the roads of New England.
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