In Which We Contemplate Zen and the Art of Bicycle Maintenance

January 2020 bicycle ride--afternoon sunset at Cedar Lake.

OK, I ripped off the title for this post, but this is “Therapy Thursday,” where the Social Distance Biking Group on Facebook is contemplating the meaning of cycling.

What does riding a bicycle mean to me, especially in the time of pandemic? Following, in a post illustrated with images of biking highlights of recent years, is a partial answer. It’s a big question, and one I’m not going to try to answer in full. For me bicycle riding is tied up with lots of other aspects of my life:

• I’m a loner. I like the company of other people—in small doses—but am an introvert and am quite happy on my own. I like biking with buddies. My wife and I own an old tandem bike that we get out of the garage a couple of times of years, and we’ve survived those short joint ride with no divorce on the horizon. I have a family RAGBRAI team, and in a normal year would ride a fair amount with my sister who lives in town. So the “social” aspect of biking appeals to me—but 90 percent or more of biking is all alone. Riding to work, riding in the evening on weekends—going where I want at the slow pace I am comfortable using—riding a bicycle requires only a team of one, and that appeals to me.

Deer on Lindale Trail, April 19, 2020.

• I’m a bit of a tree hugger. I worry about the planet. A student at the university I teach at one said, sarcastically, “thanks for saving the planet” when he learned I commute via bicycle. It’s not sarcasm. My commute is longer on two wheels, but I would not save all that much time driving via car, and I enjoy the commute a lot more on a bike. And I am saving the planet in lots of different ways—preventing road wear and tear, reducing healthcare costs and, of course, not pumping much carbon into the atmosphere. A bit from my breath, but a lot less than if I were exploding ancient fossil life.

Another view of Cedar Lake from January. Great spot to watch the sun go down from the seat of a bike, and yes, I do have and use lights.

• I am happy being outside. I don’t have to be out there constantly, but getting some sunshine each day, seeing nature, hearing the birds, smelling the flowers—getting outdoors just feels good. Granted, for a tree-hugger that’s not a shock, but it’s not exactly the same thing either. Besides wanting to save the Earth, I want to be out in it. I’m a part of nature and feel at home there.

May 29, 2019--With my oldest son, who rode his own bike, I rode a rented bike up to the top of Hawk Hill, a steep climb that overlooks the Golden Gate Bridge near San Francisco. One can drive and walk to get there, I suppose, but it was better to ride a bike across the bridge up the hill. Earned this view!

• I’m an old, fat man. I need to stay active to keep the weight from shooting up. Granted, I also attempt to control what I eat and drink—but I love to eat. I don’t drink to access, but beer is a longtime friend of mine. Life is about balance, and clearly, based on what the scale tells me, I’ve not achieved the perfect balance in this area of life. But biking helps.

Sunny April bike ride on Lindale Trail with my wife.

Most of all, I enjoy riding a bicycle. It’s a quiet interlude in world of noise. It promotes self contemplation and thus adds to health, both physically and psychologically. It even connects me to family—I have sisters who ride and sometimes ride with me, I have children who like to bicycle—my oldest son talked me into RAGBRAI in the first place. My father bought an English 10-speed bike and commuted with it in the 1960s in California. He’s been gone for years, but I feel in a minor way that I’m with him when I ride.

2018 ride on Katy Trail near Boonville, Missouri. We used to live in that town and visited there. Halloween decorations in yard adjacent to trail.

I’ve enjoyed the Social Distance group, too. Thank you, Fred, for starting this group. It lets us share our biking lives even as we’re apart.

And to finish up, a few RAGBRAI images:

2019, Methodist Church in Indianola, Iowa. Typical RAGBRAI meal, and usually very good.

2018--Sister gets a flat and Major Caroline of U.S. Air Force team is there to rescue us.

Family members who rode RAGBRAI 2017. Me on the left, my oldest son who talked me into RAGBRAI in 2011 next, followed by sisters and in-laws. Team Joe!