“Too often, the pile of reasons not to ride feels like it towers over the reasons why you should. But what if, today, it didn’t?”
Tell us about your bike ride – no matter how thrilling or mundane, no matter how short or epic, no matter how slow or fast it was – in the comments of this article or here on the forum.
Deal? Deal. I’ll go first.
Zero changing of clothes, just hopped on the basket bike and went the longer and prettier way to the shops to pick up some things. It hurt at first, a bit, but the sun was out and the birds were tweeting and the creek burbled along its bed. Helped an old lady who’d gotten lost in the trails with her Jack Russell and told her how to get back to the main path; she was lovely and reminded me of Grandma. Got my things, rode back along a different bike path, and felt about a million times better than if I’d just sat at my desk trying to extract words from a foggy head.
Hooked up the trailer to a gravel bike I can’t talk about. Put the macride on. Put the youngest on the macride and the oldest in the trailer and rode to the finish line of a tiny wednesday night enduro series race on a trail called Star Wars, because you feel like you’re about to shoot into that little hole in the Death Star. Kids cheered for mom, climbed trees, and we rode home.
Bike rides are my happy place. Lately I’ve been lost trying to process the loss of my brother. It takes an incredible effort to get dressed up to cosplay as a cyclist. Once I do, it brings me just enough mental clarity for a few hours that I get to take in fresh air and the views of the mountains.
got up at 6.15am this morning and out the door before 7am. time to commute on my longer loop which uses one of Brisbane’s better bike paths along the Gateway Motorway and Kedron Brook. It’s spring, so the sun is out and it’s starting to heat up to the sub-tropical temperatures Brisbane is known for. But not quite yet. Using the path allows more opportunity for reflection on the day, the sights and surrounds - than does my shorter commute battling traffic. The morning has a brightness to it - a glare as the sun hits the landscape in a way it won’t again in the day. Nothing eventful happened on the ride. I asked two people standing next to their bikes if they were stranded - no, just resting I guess. My good deeds for the day. After an hour or so I arrive at work. It’s like many other commutes but I’m modestly satisfied with my early start and organization to get out the door early and pick my route. It feels like winning already.
08:10 am this morning, weather can’t decide if it’s fog, mist or slight drizzle. I dressed for fog and got drizzle. Morning commute is only 15min so getting wet through my wind jacket is not that terrible, it’s still pretty warm here in the south of Sweden.
Those 15min in the morning and afternoon makes it all worth it, and I would not trade it to be dry in a car.
Last weekend with my son, me riding gravel, he trail/enduro, so we settled up on a cross country ride :). Calm forest, end of Summer sun, some trails, some fire roads, some jumps I passed, a lunch mid-ride and coffee at the end. It hardly can get better than this.
Didn’t ride much this summer due to buying a new house and many, many house projects between the old and new house. Plus moving.
Fitness shot, basically starting form scratch…..forced my self to get up this AM, get the lights out and join the group for the fall trail ride we do on Tues and Thurs. Still warm (60*), fog hung over the fields and the sun came up as we rode. I suffered immensely and got dropped often……but damn it was good.
Left work a bit early to go to my second-ever race off-road, a local cx series. I’ve been racing on the road for a while but have very little experience not on pavement, and have been trying to use cx to improve my handling and nerves. Rode to and from the race with friends, about an hour each way. Managed to crash on the only asphalt on the course, a pump track berm, on the recon lap. Also apparently installed a cleat incorrectly and it broke to the point where I couldn’t clip in. My hand is still numb from gripping the bars so tight. Still had fun.
Between the kids’ summer break and work I haven’t ridden outside since Father’s Day. Last night, after the house settled down, I put on the kit, got on the bike, and took a leisurely ride under the ocean and later saw some dinosaurs. Right now that’s all I got.
It was the escape from the pressures of life I needed.
I run the mountain bike team at the high school where I work, and we did our first team ride yesterday after school, and, as is often the case with teaching, I did as much learning as any of us. Committing to running after school practices is not something I’ve ever really embraced - it’s the end of a long day of dealing with bratty teenagers, it poses logistical challenges in terms of getting home and getting dinner going for the family, etc. But yesterday, as we rode down a riverside path on a beautiful autumn day (the leaves are just starting to change here), it was hard to imagine a better way to decompress after a workday.
It also reminded me that bike riding is best when it’s just about enjoying the moment. I tend to get so caught up in having specific goals for rides that I end up spending too much time looking at my Garmin and focusing on my effort. My plan for this session was a steady tempo ride, and I led the team on the way out. The ride more or less passed in silence. At the turnaround I asked how that felt and the kids generally indicated they felt a little on-the-limit, so I abandoned riding to a specific pace and we just cruised home. What transpired was a half hour of conversation and easy riding, enjoying each other’s company, the fall weather and the scenery. And of course the fun of riding bikes. And that’s something I’d like to nurture in those kids a lot more than any pursuit of athletic performance.
Going for a bike ride on a fall day is one of the most enjoyable things you can do, and the kids helped remind me that I need to get better and letting go and just enjoying the ride. It was certainly a better way to unwind after work than sitting on the couch doomscrolling.
I was a little late getting home from work so I just did an easy 45 minute noodle around the neighbourhood. Saw a lot more little kids on bikes, which is a nice surprise.
Went out for what’s in my route collection as “Evening standard” – a post-work default. 40km, 700+ m of rural pavement. Lovely September evening. No plan, no numbers, just enjoying feeling the engine working well.
I am perpetually grateful that I live where something this nice is a “normal” out-the door ride, and that I have the ability and opportunity to enjoy it.
You make me want to visit Durango. I’ve vowed to not visit the US for the forseeable future but your tales of the town make me want to change my mind. It sounds epic.
Just checked the flights from Sydney: 33h. No, thank you.
Today my weekly early morning Thursday group through a large beautiful urban park. Standing ride with whomever shows up. Some fast segments and then regroup. This time of year we start out in the dark and get treated to sunrise.
Tomorrow a random amble that ends with a shop at a terrific bagel shop to stock up for the weekend.
Soon my favorite, autumn mountain bike rides on clear chilly days.
I don’t get to the Durango area often, but I fell in love with the mountains on a trip between Ouray and Durango as a kid. A great place to recenter oneself. Mesa Verde National Park is nearby. It features Anasazi ruins throughout the canyons. One of the most peaceful and awesome places I’ve ever been. Feeling a real need for the place these days.
I’ll go first.
