Solo mind and body
Cows munching
Wind resisting me
Fast, tan legs
Conscious breath
Rollers to play on
Sunshine all over
Silky road
Little cars
Sunflower smiles
Dodging grasshoppers
Deep, brown cattails
Horse tails sweeping in the wind
Birds flying overhead
Leaves blowing
River flowing
A tailwind to sail me home
Electric sky
Raindrop in my eye
~ Julie Feilen
… clearly one of my Top 10 spins
Photo courtesy of Chris Jules
Ride = feel productively tired, buzzed and happy. Don’t ride = feel crabby, antsy and caged. Simple stuff.
“Cycling, it’s one of those sports you can do eight hours a day. You’re going to be tired at the end, but if you did an eight-hour run you wouldn’t run again for a week. I think people are better, smarter, more present and more patient when they’ve done some type of exercise — that goes for an eight-year-old and a 68-year-old — and I need more, perhaps more than most people, to get the results I want. Bike racing is the thing that provides me with the most balance.” –Lance Armstrong
People pay big money on meds and therapists for the pleasant “high” you get from a bike ride. Whether you are the cruiser type or serious cyclist, the velo buzz runs deep… deep into the core of the mind and body to produce endorphins, burn calories and bond with the outdoors.
My recent high country, endurance ride told me so. Dang, that ride was tough… but fun! Climb, then climb, then climb until the legs and lungs scream “are we there yet?” But to bask in the views, have the silky plants and flowers brush your legs as you pedal past, and to breathe in the green aromas puts you in a state of pure euphoria… mmmmmm. Dodging the killer rocks, planting myself in a bush and digging a pedal in my shin, it was all good. So good. I stopped and looked over at my friend who is well-seasoned with the “high” country and said “This makes you tough.” She said “Yep, that’s why I like it.”
Nope, I’m not crazy. There are many others, so that makes me sane. The velo buzz is alive and well. Check out this info from studies they’ve done (taken from from bicycling.com, an article called “Really Done” by Bill Strickland):
“Afterward, I researched the idea he (Lance) was talking about and confirmed that this is not just some idiosyncratic theory of the good life Armstrong has cooked up as justification. There are some scientific indications that because cycling combines sustained aerobic exercise with complex brain functions such as balance, timing and spatial awareness, it might be ideally suited to soothe the brain. In a 2008 study of 115 students at the Humboldt University of Berlin’s Institute of Sport Science, students who engaged in 10 minutes of exercise that required complex, highly coordinated movements performed better on a test measuring attention and concentration than students who did simpler aerobic exercise. (And both groups tested better than when they hadn’t exercised.) Another study at Vanderbilt University found that after performing short, complex exercises that emphasized balance and quick reaction and decision making — all descriptors of what it takes to navigate a race peloton — adults were 40 percent more successful at solving a puzzle than when trying to do so after being idle. In a 2005 survey of clinical trials and research held at a conference in Washington, D.C., among the presentations from scientists from Georgetown University, Johns Hopkins, the University of Wisconsin and Duke University Medical School were findings that the changes in the brain activity of meditating monks are directly comparable to the changes that occur during the act of pedaling a bicycle.”
Get out and ride. Feel the wind in your face, bugs in your teeth from grinning ear-to-ear, and enjoy the scenery. If it’s raining, smell the sweet air, get dirty flinging mud everywhere (if you don’t, go faster) and splash in the puddles. Be a kid… we still really are, but just in a bigger body.
Prove it. Live it. Enjoy it.
Blow me away from the desert
To distant lands
far, far away
land of the free
where I can be
what I’m made of
so I can see…
fern leaves unfurling, dew dripping
rays of sun poking through holes of mighty, elephant ear plants
spiders posed on their silky webs
drenched by the sticky air
soil rich with bugs, thriving and expanding in their home
pliable nature beaming with pride
drinking in the moisture… every breath, every pore
hugged by lush, dense foliage
the sweet scent of herbal energy alive with vigor
surrounded by panoramic waters rippling with the wind
immersed in the blooming moment
beckoning me to fly with it all…
Photo courtesy of Tammy Warren
This was part of the Banff Mountain Film Festival that I saw in Durango a couple of weeks ago. This amazing picture and other short films took me to ends of the Earth on things like a bike, skis, parachute, and rowboat with all the moments of elation and pitfalls.
If this film festival is in your area and you love adventure, it’s a must see. I’m signing off to a snowy winter with lots of sweet pow, and hopefully next year we’ll have just the same (or maybe more). Injoy…
