Yesterday we had a beautiful morning. Yes it was a bit damp and the rain clouds were threatening to open up any moment, but everything looked green and fresh. It was a typical mid-summer day in New England.
I went biking.
I started from our home in Acton, biked to Concord Center, and then to the Carlisle State Park and back. As I was pedaling away, I was thinking about why I have started enjoying this activity so much that I am prepared to get up early, get all sweaty, and tired; and feel good about it at the end.
This is the answer that I got.
Biking starts from home. I do not need to go to a special place. Just get on the bike and start pedaling.
The destination is predictable. It is back home. I am not going anywhere in particular.
It is the journey that matters in biking. How you enjoy it is the only thing that counts.
I have started enjoying the journey. I like what I see and experience. I enjoy the majesty of tall spruces and firs. I like the deep green of maples. I look forward to seeing the sparkling ponds with Mallard ducks and Canada Geese. The Purple colored flowers are everywhere this time of the year. I bike on narrow, winding roads, almost dark because of the overcast sky and the thickness of forest.
Sometimes, I am going up hill. It is a lot of work. The legs start aching and the lungs are straining. I am tempted to get off and give up. But I continue. The thrill of getting to the top without giving up is great!
Sometimes, I am going down hill. I am going fast. The wind on the face feels great. Then I remind myself that I can not make a mistake when I am going fast. I can easily stumble and hurt myself pretty badly.
This bike is one with gears, like almost every bike you purchase in the West. I am constantly adjusting the gears to make sure that I am going as fast as I can within the limits of my strength.
People on their fancy bikes constantly by-pass me. They are may be 30 or 40 years younger. Let them go past. They are all going to the same destination, home. They will reach their destination faster. May be they will not enjoy the beauty surrounding them, as much as I do.
It starts raining, as was expected. I enjoy it as much as I would if the sun was shining. These are all parts of the biking experience. After all, in biking, you are exposed to the elements and not protected as you are in a car.
This is what biking is about.
And, in case you did not guess, what the life is about!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Well articulated post, Ashok. I have lived my whole life always believing in the journey too, the destination only being important as part of planning and enjoying the journey.
ReplyDeleteI arrived at that approach after watching my parents and many of their generation spend most of their adult lives worrying about planning for "tomorrow". Obviously time and place have something to do with this, but so does choice.
We are lucky enough to have chosen to live in the right place at the right time! We have worked hard and played hard, and I hope to continue doing just that for quite some time yet.
Kim
Ashok:
ReplyDeleteWhat you descrbe so well here is "being in the present moment". It is this being in the NOW that gives you that unique joy which comes from within you. Spiritualists describe it as being connected with your true self (or a higher energy). Biking surely give that - esp. when riding through beautiful natural surroundings. Some other hobbies like trekking in the nature also gets you to that state of joy. What differentiates biking from other such hobbies/sports is the pace of experience, the feel of the wind, ability to be quickly reach beautiful areas directly from home, setting your own pace, choice of being alone or being with others and challenge of different terrains.
It is important to note that this feeling of joy is instantly lost if you start thinking while biking. Thinking pulls you out of the "paradise of being in the present moment" and takes you to the worries, concerns, frustrations of the past and future. So let us enjoy biking by just "being" in the nature. Then biking becomes meditation.
Sharad
so, dad, you like biking huh
ReplyDeleteBiking and life are fine till your wheel gets stolen!
ReplyDeleteAshok,
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the club. Besides 'Hiking the Appalachian Trail' has been ruined for ever by the So. Carolina governor.
So true! Journey IS the Destination.
ReplyDeleteAmit