Despite the proclivity towards being all-knowing that comes as a consequence of my being Dutch, the most beautiful things in life are discoveries that come as a result of not knowing. We are quick to answer but slow to think; the easy solution lies at our fingertips while the true mystery lurks just beyond, ready to reveal her secrets if only we are willing to venture into the unknown. Beauty is found in the journey, not the destination.
As Cyclists, we start our journey with the simple joy of pedalling a bicycle and escaping the clumsy limitations of bipedal locomotion – walking quickly loses its luster when you can pedal a bike instead. First we pedal to explore the limits of our range, then the limits of our speed. Finally, we pedal to explore the limits within ourselves as speed and range are tested together.
When we free ourselves from the confines of our local and familiar roads and point the bicycle towards parts unknown, we rediscover the childish beauty of exploration that came when we first started riding a bike. Not knowing what lies around the next bend is a mysterious sort of riding completely different from the regimented training we have become accustomed to. The familiar pressure will be there in our heart, lungs, and legs, but with it will come an element of nervous excitement at the anticipating the unknown. Whether we encounter a dead end or a gravel road; none of it matters in the scope of discovery.
One of the amazing things about a competent rider aboard a bicycle is how much distance can be covered in a day. After 8, 10, or 12 hours away, we can look at a globe and see the stretch of land we covered. The mind will be tired from the effort from having pushed the body and wondering about what will be coming next. The body will be empty, the lungs will have that familiar tension from supplying oxygen-starved muscles with fuel. The look in the rider’s eye will be one of the exhilaration that only comes as a result of total exhaustion.
We need this sort of emptiness in order to feel fulfilled. There is something beautiful to be discovered when we push into the unknown.
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Fulfilled by emptiness. Very nice, I am going to meditate on that for the rest of the day.
I took a class on meditating (long story) but I realized that I already do it by riding, which is the best way to clear the mind.
Also maybe it's the emptiness we feel which causes the beer to taste so good afterwards.
Longest ride on tap for me today in over a year. I will indeed being clearing my mind before I am done.
Also, LOVING that lead photo.
Love those long rides where you look at them on the app and you can see the whole island...
A few weeks ago I set out on a lovely evening to ride some familiar roads. Around half way I turned left on a road previously unridden instead of heading for home. I then snaked and twisted and turned around some amazing new backroads almost totally devoid of traffic. The surfaces were smooth, the terrain lumpy, the weather perfect, my clothing spot on. I did 80kms and finished with a huge shit-eating grin on my face. I had gone exploring in a way that no other form of transport could match. It was a ride of empowerment and fulfillment. It was something beautiful that was mine and mine alone.
I'm dying for a long ride. Just a bunch of short training efforts at dodging thunderstorms these last few weeks.
@Frank, that opening sentence has to be on the podium of your Dutch centric expositions and the rest of the opening paragraph - genius.
Whenever time allows I have always used the bike as a tool of exploration and the longer the better. There is no better way to see the world, it's the epitome of the Goldilocks principle for travel, not to slow not to fast.
Spot on. Love the start of the 3rd paragraph.
@the Engine
My island must be bigger than your island.
There are so many undiscovered roads. Even where I live and think I've ridden all of them within 200Km of my house. It's fantastic to head out with just a gauge sense of where you want to go, then get lost. I've found many new places to ride doing that.
Totally suggest everyone does that from time to time.