Big Legged Woman...

You know what I love about cycling?

Everything

What do you love about cycling, is it love or is it just a junior high crush, maybe you are just friends.  Does it encompass your day, hour, second, or is it your world?  Can you stop at any moment?  Is it a habit, a past time, or does it define you?  What does it mean to you, can you live without it?

I live cycling.  I can't begin to explain what a ride on a bicycle means to me.  The bike is a tool, a toy, but more importantly it is an extension of oneself.  I'm thinking about bikes right now, perfectly groomed single-track weaving in and out of Aspen trees.  I can't help it.  I'm an addict and there is no cure, and I'm not going to stop.  So, save your intervention for someone with a glue sniffing habit.  I'm good here move along.

I have had the privilege to ride with a lot of people, whether it be racing or just a bike trail stroll, people either "get it" or they don't.  The "it" is something that no amount of training, miles, wins, or time will be possible to attain.  There is no magic formula, no coaching, and no book will help you find the holy grail.  Just riding your bike helps, but that is not the answer.  The answer is Zen, it lies within. You, the bike, the cycling community. 

What is it that makes us slip on shoe covers, gloves, and long tights to go out and ride in freezing drizzle?  Do you do this because you have to?  Gotta get in the miles, coach said I have to do..., everyone else is doing it, or do we get out there because it is raw?  Man and machine vs Nature.  The base layer of the cycling lifestyle.  Pain.  We want it difficult.  Heck if it were easy everyone would do it, and why would you want to do something everyone else is doing?  That is just stupid.  Cycling is a dare unfulfilled, a self loathing one-up-yourself.  How can you truly feel if you do not know Pain?

I would dare say that most bike riders do not see the "beautiful" side of cycling.  Like I said before there is no map to find your way, but you will know it when you get there.  Cycling is a cold beer at the end of a salt crusted calf cramping town-sprint ride to the parking lot.  It is the nod of the head to a fellow in a different kit on the starting line.  It is the sweaty handshake or the pat on the back of the guy who just piped you at the line.  It is the thanks given for pulling across a titanic gap.  It is...