Perhaps you do it because is one of the best exercises that is out there. You get to move through life with a low resting heart rate (mine is 52 but heard of people at 31) and strong and thick legs and some real confidence that you will be watching your grandkids grow up (no Alana, I am not in a hurry to see my grandkids). You can go to a barbecue and grab a second burger or an extra beer without a hint of remorse. People in your community, work, neighbors talk to you like you are an athlete-just because you are an athlete.
Perhaps you ride for the beauty of the experience of riding. You think of all the incredible landscapes you've passed through-the cornfields, the slick rocks, the fire roads, the flowy single tracks, the one's not so flowy, the perfectly paved roads, and those not so perfect and big blue skies or the cityscapes lit up at sunset or the blur of mailboxes and your favorite descent. Think of the elegance of the machines we ride, being it road or mountain bike, the synchrony of a well organized double paceline, the way we can start a ride stressed and end it blissed.
Or maybe you're a cyclist to be part of something larger. Bigger than life in fact, like the Stormriders, a South Florida group that rides to help find a cure for Multiple Sclerosis. If you are really lucky, you regularly take your rightful place in the pack, whether it's in your hometown ride, an epic mountain bike stage race, or that autumn century ride you trained four months to finish. Whatever you pedigree, we all have a chance to tap into the rich tradition of the sport. You can realistically dream of bouncing back over the cobbles in the Arenberg Forest or hauling yourself up the Tourmalet-or at least of churning up a local climb with your own group.
You've likely even got more great reasons why you ride. There's a good chance that cycling has brought you more friends and more confidence-and it has probably taught you something about your limitations, too. I bet it's helped you use your car a little bit less. And taught you to fix something. Perhaps it's even helped you get through a tough time in your life.
Cycling has done all of this for me-and something more that I've been struggling to put a finger on. I have reduced my weight by 50 pounds up to date. I've been biking for more than 2 years now: training, touring, searching, hiding, reading about it, racing, recovering, but mostly, just noodling around on the best trails I could find. Which is to say that I know exactly why I started to ride, and that I have no clue exactly why I keep on riding.
Luckily, my five year old son helped me figure this out this past month. On a Sunday morning that I decided not to go hit a trail somewhere, that's when Lucas learned how to ride without training wheels. On our dead end street with a slight downward pitch was the place of choice. I told him that he would be able to do without training wheels really quick if he believe in himself. He was nervous, so I told him to stay calm, keep the pedals spinning and mostly important, look always forward. I pushed him off the corner of his small shoulder blade and jogged along him for about 3 seconds to get him up to speed. And then, on our third try, I finally let go. Lucas pedaled and wobbled, but he kept it up until he ran out of pavement. I video taped him, cheering his great moment and watching him smile. His eyes sparkled with sunlight and something else-it would be wrong to call it anything less than pure joy.
That is why we are all here, right?
