I will forever remember being three years old and riding my red bicycle. It was a hand-me-down…a well-trained bike that my older brother and sister taught. Back in the day when there weren’t ‘striders’ but training wheels…when you rode on three wheels: the front, the back and left training wheel or the front, back and right wheel. Dad would grab the back of the seat and help me move forward until my little legs engaged in the pedals. And then it happened! The stars aligned, the training wheels didn’t touch, my feet were perfectly placed and off I went…full speed ahead, down the driveway towards the garage door faster than Dad could run! Yes. I’m sure he thought I’d go face first into the door! Oh no. A quick left, using the left training wheel, nearly high siding and I was on my way down the sidewalk, wheels screeching, never to be stopped again!
Oh, that feeling! That magical feeling! I was free. I was flying. And oh so giddy! I did it!
FOREVER. That’s how I respond when I’m asked, “How long have you been riding?” I have ALWAYS had a bicycle. Yes. I’m the kid who rode to school, the nurse who cycled to work, the adult grocery shopping and now, the luckiest person on earth to see the world from the seat of a bike.
Life is better when you ride a bike…all things.
Recall a time when you were really thirsty? You found water or a beverage. How did that feel? The taste, the temperature, the satisfaction of a very basic need fulfilled? Gulp or sip? So amazingly good!
Or when you were hungry…maybe ravenous? That first bite of food. It’s texture, how it felt in your mouth? Did you even chew or swallow it whole?
Remember when you were little and went off the deep end…literally? Head underwater with no air, someone pulled you up and you gasped. Yes. On the bike, the deep breaths…the beautiful exchange of oxygen and carbon monoxide, ribs expanding and contracting and the magic of metabolism happening in each and every cell of your body. Ponder that for a moment.
In the heat, your amazing body cools itself with trickles of sweat gathering around the straps, bands and edges of your clothing. Keep moving and your body is the original ‘swamp cooler’. It’s hard to realize what’s happening until you stop at a signal on blacktop in the sun. Wow! You don’t realize how effective moving a sweaty body through air is until you stop moving, feeling heat radiate from the ground like you’ve just been placed on the grill for a Sunday BBQ. And the badges some wear…the salt crusted brow or white band on the chest of your jersey. This must be EARNED and cannot be bought.
If it’s cold, give me a hill. Let me ride hard and burn calories…those little energy packets filled with heat, water and CO2. The body warms to the core, breath steamy, blood shunted from fingers and toes to the core…literally.
So much magic happens when you ride a bike!
Ever hear of “bike naps?” It’s the nap after a great ride when you wake up in exactly the same position you fell asleep in an hour ago. Your body literally melts into the mattress like a sunbaked gummy bear.
And then the sweet slumber at night. With today’s technology, you can see how well you slept with ‘sleep scores’ on smart devices. Sleep is so critically important and often underestimated. It’s the time your body heals, rebuilds and defrags its files. And, unbeknownst to you, your partner shares that you snore. LOL! It can be so funny…who wakes up the other first or wakes themselves? Those who will be riding RAGBRAI, bring ear plugs! Yes. Camp at night is symphony filled with all kinds of ‘music’. And it’s not all just violins…there are tubas too!
So many other benefits are the result of cycling: better cardio fitness, lower cholesterol, weight management, stress reduction.
And the list goes on.
Yes. If you’re a cyclist, food tastes incredible, a cool drink of water is sweeter, you sleep like a baby and life is BETTER!
April 6, 2025
