Fitness. The rhythm, the feeling of precision in our movement, the sensations of The Ride. The temptation of knowing we might in some way control our suffering even as we push harder in spite of the searing pain in our legs and lungs. The notion that through suffering, we might learn something rudimentary about ourselves – that we might find a kind of salvation.
Cycling, like Art, is based on the elementary notion that through focussed study, we might better understand ourselves. But to describe Cycling as a an Art does it an injustice. An artist, they say, suffers because they must. A Cyclist, I suggest, suffers because we choose to.
This element of choice, what psychologists refer to as the locus of control, is part of what allows us to feel pleasure through suffering. Through this choice unfolds an avenue of personal discovery by which we uncover the very nature of ourselves. Like Michelangelo wielding his hammer to chip away fragments of stone that obscure a great sculpture, we turn our pedals to chip away at our form, eventually revealing our true selves as a manifestation of hard work, determination, and dedication to our craft.
Having chosen this path, we quickly find that riding a bicycle on warm, dry roads through sunny boulevards is the realm of the recreational cyclist. As winter approaches, the days get shorter and the weather worse. Form tempts us to greater things, but leaves us quickly despite our best intentions. Its taste lingers long upon the tongue and urges us to gain more. Even as life gets in the way, we cannot afford many days away from our craft before we find ourselves struggling to reclaim lost fitness.
To find form in the first place, and to maintain it in the second, is a simple matter of riding your bicycle a lot. This simple task asks of us, however, a year-round commitment to throwing our leg over a toptube in heat, cold, wind, rain, or sleet, lest we spend months fighting to reclaim last year’s lost condition.
But with riding in bad weather is revealed a hidden secret. It is in the rain and the cold, when all the seductive elements of riding a bicycle have vanished, that we are truly able to ensconce ourselves in the elemental qualities of riding a bicycle. Good weather and beautiful scenery, after all, are distractions from the work. Without them, we have only those elements that we ourselves bring to The Ride: the rhythm, harmony between rider and machine, our suffering, and our thoughts. As the rain pours down and all but the most devoted stay indoors, we pull on extra clothing and submit into the deluge.
We are the Few, we are the Committed. We are those who understand that riding in bad weather means you’re a badass, period.
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@DerHoggz
It is against The Rules to dislike cycling. If it involves skill, class, the V, and two wheels, its all good. Road, track, mountain biking. We love it all.
Seeing as the hour goes back next week, I left work early today to get in what is quite possibly the last after-work ride of the year. (Apart from this reason, my e-mail and internet access was screwed up, so there wasn't much I could do anyway.) We were also blessed with sun and temps around 60 degrees, so I didn't need much motivation.
A swift little tailwind as I headed north in a mix of busy and then virtually traffic-free roads, saw me take in a few of my favorite roads (and, at one point crossing paths with the same school bus 5 times) amidst the remaining fall foliage. Thought of Frank as I passed a farm proudly owned by the Strack family just before I entered "the tunnel" - 2.5 kms of recently chip-sealed road through a tunnel of trees that only a few weeks ago were gloriously gold.
I was feeling better and better as the ride went on, my back was behaving and I'd dressed just right. Then, as luck would have it, the wind died down considerably for the ride home as the sun set spectacularly to my right. Finished my last bottle 2kms from home. Saw some guys out running and felt sorry for them that they weren't riding. 92kms of bliss. Love the work? Damn right!
@Marcus
Is that Liz Cambage with Cadel? I know she's 203cm, but there's NO WAY that photo wasn't altered. She could put him in her purse and carry him around all day like a yippy dog.
@Jeff in PetroMetro
I think you should keep your Cuddles fantasy to yourself.
@Jeff in PetroMetro
It certainly is Ms Cambage. Think Cuddles is 174cm and she was wearing heels... That could easily make for a 15 inch difference. She is fucking enormous.
Wonder what Cuddles was saying to her?
"I bet a girl like you could give a guy like me a really mean draft baby."
"I may be small but I bet I can eat more than you."
You want bad driving... when Blackberry was down for three days recently the accident rate in Abu Dhabi fell by 40%.
Seriously, people here will text and drive at 140km/hr. About a month ago one of the national football team members died when he ran into the back of a road marking truck in the middle of sending a stream of texts and BBMs.
The other extraordinary thing here is seatbelts. They are still only compulsory in the front seats, and although compulsory for children most people don't make the kids wear them. So you see people driving at high speed with kids clambering around freely.
I saw one car the other day go past me when I was sitting on 135km/hr. Four year old kneeling, unrestrained, in between the two front seats where simply falling over would hit the drivers arm or wheel. BUT, they had gone to the trouble of getting a Child On Board sign for the back window, so it was OK really.
I'm told a lot of it is to do with the religious mentality. Whatever God intends to happen will happen - It Is Written (for those who've seen Lawrence of Arabia, and please tell me that's everyone). So whether you drive like a stuntman or are the most careful person in the world makes not a jot of difference.
@itburns
Nipple lube.
@Marcus
Miss Cambage: "Ya little wee man. Can you dunk a basketball? I didn't think so. Get in my purse."
@ChrisO
Yep - average Landcruiser there is like a mobile living room. Kids aren't just not restrained, they revel in it, cartwheeling from row to row (three rows of seats). I've witnessed kids out the top of sunroofs. A friend related a scene where a kid was standing on the headrests of the driver and passenger seats, most of the body out the top of the vehicle through the sunroof. The Landcruiser was stopped at lights, but the mother actually took off when they changed. The kid fell over, luckily back down into the car.
What's chilling is that in three days you can see a trend that is expressed as 40%. You have to have a lot of accidents per day to get that. And that's the case.
@Jeff in PetroMetro
How ironic, doesn't Cadel fancy yippy dogs?