Biking has as many different meanings to people as do tomatoes. Just think about your favorite way to eat the flavorful fruit, it might be cooked into something warm with basil and oregano, or juiced with celery, or layered up on your favorite burger.
You might even loathe it for a while a until wham-bam a friend introduces you to something totally new that has your taste buds singing.
Riding can be just as good as that delicious tomato dish when you find your perfect place in riding.
It takes years to find that perfect recipe for some people, but given the right attitude you can settle into a bicycling bliss that will leave you with a lifelong meaningful relationship.
Where Do You Fit in?: Bicycling’s Many Facets
Some people are bike enthusiasts, biking is a part of many layers of their life, they might ride for competition, commute to work, run errands on a bike, enjoy family rides, mountain and road bike. Other’s get into a specific niche and delve deeply into one meaning of the bike. For some it’s a means to a goal, loosing weight, connecting with a social circle, or seeing less traveled places.
Riding can be really great when we get the right recipe for your personality, physical ability, and desire. It’s an activity that almost anyone can enjoy given the right time, place, and equipment.
As life goes on it’s winding road riders even find that relationship shifting, one interest about biking might grow while another wanes. You may even come full circle again to the thing that inspired you most about biking.
It’s smart to let the cycles run their course. Don’t force yourself into a square hole if you’re a round peg this week or this year. And, don’t be angry with yourself if something feels amiss. Change happens and can have glorious results. I say sit back and see where the adventure takes you.
Competition, Formal or Not: Biking ‘s Underbelly
Love-Hate relationships with biking are often built on the premise of competition. Whether a formal racing is your goal and your poison or that “friendly rivalry” at your weekly club/local ride, competition can drive some to happiness and turn others sour.
Heck, sometimes it’s a flat out drive to improve against yourself that is the rivalry you have to look out for.
It’s always good to take a careful look at the pro/con of competition in your life. Is it making you hate something you once loved? Is it destroying your self esteem? Are you thriving or finding that riding is becoming a dread? And last but definitely not least, do your non-riding family or friends remember what you look like?
There are many bike widows and lost friends that have been replaced by a steel or carbon, or titanium steed.
Riding should be good for you. In every way. Healthy for the body and the mind. And the spirit. You should a be better person thanks to riding, not an absentee spouse or an exhausted, wrung out girlfriend.
When competition becomes the obsession there can be an unbalanced shift toward issues like overtraining, anger, chronic disappointment in yourself, and withdrawing from social activities in the name of training. Step back and look at what forms of competition have entered into your riding. Ask a friend on the outside what they see. You might just be surprised.
If competition is created a bad scene for you then think about getting into riding scenarios that diffuse that drive. Start teaching beginners or ride in leisurely places, along a boardwalk, or beautiful neighborhood. Commute to work and skip some training rides. Ride a bike that doesn’t fuel your inner demon like a tricked out cruiser with ape hanger bars and a banana seat.
And if competition is the spice of life you want just be sure you’re happy with you. How ever you do at the end of the day. After all, there will always be someone faster, and always someone that just wishes they could ride a bike like you. Keep it in perspective.
Stagnation and Stale Spins: When Riding No Longer Thrills
Routine can sometime be comfortable but it can also be the death of pleasure. Let’s look at that tomato again. If you only every ate that cold slice of tomato on your burger you’d be missing out on a whole world of aromatic, sweet flavor.
Skip the routine on a regular basis. Break your own mold.
Force yourself to mix in biking and non-riding activities to help both your body and your personality stay balanced. Have you ever seen someone that spends waaaaayyyy too much time on the bike? Yes, they can assume the form of a praying-mantis-human-mutant. It’s good for your body to do other things. Ask any physical therapist or trainer.
And don’t let all your on bike activities be the same old same old. Head out for a spin to the coffee shop instead of the Tuesday night hammer fest. Take a friend for a short jaunt to introduce them to the joy of riding. Give off-road riding a try if your specialty is road biking. Ride a cruiser on the beach (yes, you should go to the beach!)
Even try a new sport. It will not kill you to skip a weekend of riding for a trip with friends. Leave the bike at HOME!
It’s really good to reconnect with the world that’s out there, the one that’s not behind the handlebars.
Getting Your Passion For Biking Back
Absence and reflection can make the heart grow fonder. Sometimes a break from or a redirection of energy can give you a whole new perspective on the sport that we all know can be great.
Question what biking means to you.
– How does it fit the big picture in your life?
– Are you in a painful relationship with the sport?
– Does cycling make your life richer?
– Has riding lost that zeal?
Riding does not have to be everything, but it can be a beautiful passion. It can be a part of your life that brings you happiness and relieves stress, and if it’s not that then it is time for evaluating what you want from riding.
If you’re struggling to find the right place in cycling for yourself take a look around. People love biking in as many ways as there are ways to eat the tomato, sometimes you’ve just got to check out some new recipes before you find the best flavor of all.
Just remember, biking is fun! Come out to Bike Virginia where every kind of rider can enjoy 6 days of friendship and pedaling pleasure.