Evolution

Life for many of us seems to happen in phases. As infants and young children we are concerned primarily with our physical needs and limitations. We go to school and now we are concerned mainly with mental pursuits (some of us, anyway), although the physical has not disappeared away. We get older, make friends, maybe a romantic interest or two, and suddenly we are aware of the emotional aspect of life, in addition to the physical and mental. And, usually in adulthood, our sense of the spiritual is awakened…I’m not necessarily talking about religion here, although the spiritual may certainly live and thrive in a religious context, but more of a “there is more than just this tangible universe” kind of feeling. There are certainly variations on and deviations from this, to be sure.

So too it is with cycling, perhaps. When I first started cycling almost daily, I was focused almost completely on its physical aspect. I was painfully aware of my own physical limitations and consumed with the objective of physical progress.

As I got better at pedaling a bike up and down hills, I came to focus on the mental/intellectual parts of the hobby. The laws of physics have a lot to do with how fast/far one can move on a bicycle. I searched for the optimal bike build that would allow me to climb steep hills with less effort, while also going faster on flats, and not tearing up my body (as badly) on long distance rides. Gear ratios and frame materials suddenly became obsessions.

After struggling through a few century rides, I came to focus on the emotional changes that occur during a long ride. There is an initial happiness mixed with a little worry (“this is fun but can I finish in good time?”), a mental/emotional wall one hits (sometimes several times during the ride), recovery from that wall, a rush of joyful endorphins (again, sometimes several times), and finally if all goes well, a serene and happy acceptance of what the ride was, is, and will be. These events don’t always happen in the order listed.

Having been through what I’d call phases of focus with all of the above, I’m now most focused on an aspect of cycling that isn’t exactly spiritual but isn’t exactly NOT spiritual either. How does one go about leaving the cycling world a better place than one found it? Make cycling more accessible to more people of all types? Make cycling safer? More enjoyable? More of a community? All of the above?

When I first started riding in organized rides like Cycle Oregon and Reach The Beach, I was very pleasantly surprised at just how many people volunteered their time to spend all day at rest stops, getting food and water to cyclists, fixing flat tires and other mechanical issues, and so on. At the time I wondered to myself, “These are able-bodied people who clearly like cycling; why wouldn’t they ride in this event and let someone else do all the non-fun stuff?” I don’t wonder that anymore, and when event rides open up again I’d like to be one of those volunteers from time to time.