Why cycling?

As I mentioned yesterday, cycling has become a new routine for me. I found going to a gym to be pretentious, noisy, and distracting. That's just me. Others, I am sure find a gym to be rewarding, and I will not disparage their choice of exercise. 

Cycling adds a dimension to my exercise routine that is unique, refreshing, and focused on what I can achieve, not in a competition. Still, how I can better myself each and every day I am on the trails and roads of my community. But, there is always something special about the experience. For that, I take the advice from one of my favorite authors, Robert Pirsing. He wrote an inspiring book a few years back that describes his experience with motorcycling. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. 

To paraphrase a section from his story:

     "You see things on a cycle in a way that is completely different from any other. In a car you're

       always in a sealed compartment, and because you're used to it you don't realize that 

       through that car window everything you see is just more TV. You're a passive observer and it

       is all moving by you boringly in a frame.

       On a cycle the frame is gone. You're completely in contact with it all. You're in the scene, not 

       just watching it anymore, and the sense of presence is overwhelming."

What an apt description of cycling. Last week while biking, I saw a Florida panther running along a creek in all its strength and glory. Another day I saw rabbits, a woodchuck, a variety of birds of different colors, shapes, and sizes, all sorts of green vegetation such as elm trees, scrub oak trees, palm trees, and grass. When the wind blows against you or with you, the experience is live and penetrating. As the sun shines, or if it rains, you are still in the middle of the experience. 

As Pirsing reminds me, "the sense of presence is overwhelming."

Pirsig, Robert. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: an Inquiry into Values. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc, 1984.