I wish I started when I was younger. I discovered the magic of cycling only when I turned 50ish. I wish I can bike daily but because of work schedule I can only bike once a week. It is something I look forward to every week — not just me but my bike buddies feel the same way.
Why do I love bicycling? I have thought about all the benefits of this form of exercise and read them in the Internet but I came up with this. I think I have fallen in love with biking because it feels like time travel. Not the kind of time travel Doctor Who does and what the movie Interstellar presents. It is the kind of time travel where when I ride the bike I feel like 16 years old all over again.
Feeling young is the reason (smile). And when you are young these things matter to you: the freedom, the fresh air, the mountains, the lakes, the hills..
Our biking group just loves the sense of freedom of being on a bike and feeling the cool air on our faces as we cascade down the hills. It feels better than any other therapy. It is relaxing, refreshing and invigorating.
It is never boring. Each ride is an adventure. It is a story on its own with every push of the pedal. There is always a sense of accomplishment – a sense of success. In reality, it is not about reaching the goal. It is about the ride that delivers something new for us to cherish: the colorful flowers, the geese in the lake, the deers, and the birds…
Now I wonder why people don’t bike more. Don’t people know that it is an adventure that takes us to spectacular places the general public doesn’t see. My biking friends and I have moved from being couch potatoes to avid bikers. In time, we have bonded like real brothers. We talk about life and our dreams. We laugh a lot, feel joy and really feel life. Biking has helped us lose all sense of stress from our minds. It tunes our bodies, rewarding us with better muscles, heart and lungs. Aren’t these great benefits?
We are not professional cyclists… just the regular ordinary riders doing an average of 25 miles. Perhaps we will do more in the near future, perhaps not.
We all have learned that one can truly be happy without spending much money. One doesn’t have to be in five star resorts, a yacht or in an expensive world tour to find joy. Biking is fun and causes no pollution. It is sustainable, healthy and exciting.
We have met all kinds of interesting people. A few weeks ago we met three older gentlemen who bike 40 miles a day. Although their average age is 75 years old, yet they look younger and looked very healthy. We told them they must have started when they were young. But they informed us that they started only when they retired from their jobs at the age of 65. That gave us so much hope because we are 20 years younger than them.
Here is a lesson I learn in biking, I found out there was one thing I must do if I was to stay on the bicycle — Keep Moving Forward. If I stop to go forward, I would fall and hurt myself. So it is in life. We can never live this life on the highest plane unless we are continually growing and moving forward. Life is a trip full of challenges and yet full of excitement.