There is a fairly new cycling magazine on the stands called Road Bike Action Magazine. I picked it up when it first came out and enjoyed it so much I bought a membership, which was pretty inexpensive. In this magazine there is a section called “Why I Ride”, which is great fun to read. So, Tracey suggested we start our own “Why I Ride” string on the blog. So here it is! Please comment by clicking below. And if you care to post your name, please do so in the body of your post, otherwise we won’t know who you are.
So I’ll start:
I ride because I’m addicted to the bike culture. I started riding in the spring/summer of 2006 and got hooked. Hey, there are worse things to be addicted to!
Now it’s your turn. Tell us why you ride!
~Dana
10 comments:
'Cause if God had meant us to walk, he/she/it wouldn't have invented the Huffy Roadster, the banana seat, baseball cards in spokes, or Italian lugged frames.
Viva la bicicletta!
JT, CCCP since the Stone Age
I commute on my bike for exercise and mental health. I do group rides to enjoy great friends and to be pushed hard.
Rocky
it is better than sex
Because I can! As a physical therapist, I deal with people who can't do so many basic things. I bike to keep myself motivated, to push my physical limits. And did I mention the great people! I love the group rides for the camaraderie (Did I spell that right?). I have made a lot of new friends who all have the same passion.
Tracey
I started riding in New Jersey with a club and soon found I could get around much faster on my bike than I could in a car! But now I ride to appreciate the geography of Maine. Everyone knows that the St. John Valley, the Penobscot Bay, the western mountains and the Casco Bay are beautiful places - but you don't REALLY know until you explore them on a bike - see them, smell them and feel them thtough your handlebars...
Why do I ride?
Man, where do I begin? There are so many reasons. I guess I best say I ride because almost more than anything else I do, it satisfies so may of my needs and affirms so many of my beliefs.
-Social. I have always been outgoing and prefer socializing to solitude. I love how group rides have allowed me to meet wonderful people whom I otherwise would never have met.The community and comraderie are priceless.
-Physical. Energy. I have always had gobs of it but not always an outlet for it. So biking has been a godsend. I love the endorphin high and sense of release during and after a ride.
-Aesthetic. I experience more of natures and Maine's beauty on my bike than anywhere else.
-Political. I can't help it, but I have always felt a duty to do my small part to improve the world. Commuting year round by bike and participating in a non-polluting sport is part of that. I loved learning that the most efficient animal or machine in the world is a salmon. The only thing more efficient than the amazing salmon is a human on a road bike.(Source: Scientific American)
. Emotional. Nothing elevates my mood and sense of well-being quite like a good ride. Somehow, none of lifes worries,stress and frustrations seem as bad after riding.
Spiritual. Physical activity, music and personal relationships have brought me the closest to transformation and inner joy. I guess you could say they are my religon.
Alright. So there's the long answer.I'm getting all mushy and philosophical now so it's probably time for me to quit.
The short answer to why I ride:
PURE FUN!
Ride On!
Kris Clark CCCP
For freedom...from stress, family, life. Sounds a bit like an introvert, maybe. Control freak, a little. I like to be able to push myself as hard as possible, to burn off those stressors, to make myself a better person to my family, to myself. I've riden solo for so many years I enjoy the solitude but being new to the Monday rides I love the group dynamic I experienced racing in Colorado. CCCP has re-introduced me to group riding and helped me fall in love with the bike all over again (even though I can only make a fraction of rides per year.) See y'all 'round sometime. Stay safe.
Patrick
To have the privilege of riding the Greenwood Road; a short, fifteen mile road ride from Norway Lake to Bryant Pond, Maine. It's a narrow, low traffic bump of a ride that has some climbing. You ride past cliffs, woods, fields, bubbling streams, three or four road-edged ponds, and you may as well be biking the paved way to heaven. You could walk it, run it, or drive it, but it is bested suit for a bike. So you stay somewhat fit, keep in shape, and a couple of times a year you ride it, and get a glimpse of heaven: and imagine that the road is lined with angels. Greenwood Road is just one of many reasons I ride, and why I’m passionate about biking.
My first bike was a hand me down from one of my cousins. Although it came with training wheels I was still to small to ride it when it first arrived, and my Dad made the big mistake of putting me on the saddle and pushing me around the barn. After that I was constantly pestering him to give me rides and asking if I was big enough to ride it by myself yet. There was no turning back from there, the obsession had begun.
A bike has been part of my life ever since. Even for stretches that I was not able to ride, riding has been there calling for me to come back. Getting back on a bike after my cancer and amputation was one of the biggest goals I had to make me feel as though I had survived.
When I ride I feel that I am my most alive, and the most within the moment.
Jim
A Parable of Pedaling
A Zen teacher saw five of his students returning from the market, riding their bicycles. When they arrived at the monastery, 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 I do not have to carry them on my back."
The teacher said, "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 see other places and watch the trees and fields pass by as I roll down the path."
The teacher commended him, "Your eyes are open and you see the world."
The third student replied, "The fluid rhythm of pedaling frees my mind, as well as my body."
The teacher praised him. "Your mind will roll with the ease of a newly-trued wheel."
The fourth student replied, "Riding my bicycle, I live in harmony with nature, the environment, and all sentient beings."
The teacher said, "You are riding on the golden path of no harm."
The fifth student replied, "I ride my bicycle to ride my bicycle…."
The teacher replied with a pause, and then, smiling, sat at the feet of the fifth student and slowly said, "I am now YOUR student!"
Relayed by Zapata Espinoza from an unknown contributor.
Post a Comment