I was asked, not too long ago, why I ride my bicycle. My answer was simple- riding a bicycle is the only way I have found to get around that makes me feel better about myself. This is not to say that riding my bicycle makes me feel superior to any, only that when I ride I feel better in myself. It is an interesting phenomenon that I am quite sure that most people feel to one extent or another when they ride their bicycles.
Physical activity of the purposeful sort seems to make most people feel better. A good run, a challenging yoga class, an hour on the rock wall are all capable of making you feel good, but there is something about being out and about on a bicycle that adds to it. What that "it" is probably varies a bit from person to person. For myself, it comes down to something quite simple and, really, quite silly.
The only time I ever feel attractive is when I ride my bicycle.
There is something about moving through space, under my own power, viewing the space around me and how everything flows that makes me more attractive to myself than anything else I do. The time I am most content with being with me is when I ride and being able to combine that with getting somewhere is undeniably powerful.
Does that make sense to you?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
It makes sense to me, I just wish I could relate! I feel better when I'm pedalling through a flat area, or coasting downhill, but when I'm huffing and puffing, hauling my fat arse up a hill, beautiful is the last thing I feel.
ReplyDeleteMy answer to why I ride is really simple...because I like to. I know, really deep, huh?
ReplyDeleteI learned in high school that I loved a morning workout (it took me a few years of 4:30 am swim practices to figure that out, though). I still like to get my exercise in the morning, whether it is in the gym at work, or on the bike getting to work. Doing so wakes me up and gets the mind sharp. Cycling has the added bonus of putting a smile on my face. My wife says I get this goofy grin on my face any time I get on the bike. Probably, but that's a good thing!
AS for attractiveness, I think that there's a certain level of attractiveness to anyone who is engaging in healthy activities...whether or not they fit societal norms for attractiveness. I don't care what a person's body type is...doing something healthy, and having that glow that exercise imparts is attractive. PERIOD. Those who don't think so, can, well, do whatever makes them so grumpy anyways.
Ade, on or off the bike, you can hold your own with anyone. I'm sure of it.
Makes complete sense to me.
ReplyDeleteI ride because I love it. I came to bike riding late in life, about 9 or 10 years ago when I was in my mid-30's. As a kid, I never got past the training wheel stage because someone stole that bike and my parents never got me another one. As a teenager, friends tried to teach me, but I was too embarrassed to really try. One night, I was walking with my then-girlfriend who had her bike with her, and decided to hop on her bike and started to ride down this small side street. I crashed into a tree at one point, but I was hooked!
I'm presently on my second bike, a black single-speed that I love. I don't need much of a reason to ride and I most definitely feel free, excited, and at my best when I'm flying through the streets with traffic.
cecily- Those hills can be something else, but they do give you a great ass!
ReplyDeleteMark- I get up at 4 AM for no one :) There really is something about seeing people who are working under their own power that is attractive. My husband and I love watching people do just about anything, as long as they are good at it and dedicated.
Tim- I hate those trees. They just jump out at you just when you start having fun! : )