View Single Post
Old 06-06-07, 08:56 PM
  #6  
keytree
Proxymoron
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 103

Bikes: Jamis Coda Sport, Marin Muirwoods

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Originally Posted by jbarros
Hey kids,

So, I've found that I enjoy riding at just about my cardio threshold. I like this because I can focus on nothing more than breathing and staying upright. There is nothing else, no phone, no computer, no moral, ethical, or social delemas, it's all just reduced to breathing. For someone like myself who has a very hard time focusing on anything, this is a godsend.

Anyone else use their bike to get their head in order?

Thoughts on the subject?

-- James
Yeah, James, I think it`s a lot like meditation. Oftentimes I look at my riding experiences as being Bicycle Zen. In sitting meditation one focuses on some aspect, usually something to do with breathing, while watching thoughts and trying not to get hooked on one and start thinking. Just breathing, watching, listening, feeling, being mindful. To me riding a bike is very similar. I`m focusing on my surroundings, my cadence, the sensations my bike sends me, not lost in some mindless--and potentially dangerous-- distraction. Awareness, instinct, reaction, not thinking. The mind`s doing its natural thing, not mentally jerking, uh, around. Riding my bike ranks up there with eating, breathing and all that other necessary stuff. I think if the Dalai Lama rode a bike, it`d probably be a fixie. Total concentration.
keytree is offline