Cycling: is there a spiritual side to it?

[grantoury]

Having offended @The History Man yesterday with some anti religious buffoonery, I decided to try and make amends.

Today I read the preface to "Science and Spiritual practices" by Rupert Sheldrake. He is a scientist with a spiritual look on life who wants to make spiritual practices accesible to all. When I read about him going on pilgrimages in England, I thought about my travels on the bicycle. I have at some point said on this venerable forum how I feel my bicycle hums while we go along. This occurs when I find a rhythm and a certain speed. I only experience this on one of my bicycles, the others are merely good but this one is an extension of myself. A longer ride, usually with a goal and a return journey, to me also has the quality of a pilgrimage, where you travel along a road where so many have gone before you to a certain destination. It is a reconnection with the road, the countryside and the places you visit. It has a spiritual quality, I realized while I read Rupert's book.

The question then for this thread is, do you feel there is more to a ride than mastering the bicycle and the terrain and becoming fit?

 

[Guinessisgoodforyou]

Yes there is. The only time I feel truly at peace is when I ride.

 

[Markybeau]

Yes there is. The only time I feel truly at peace is when I ride.

Amen brother

 

[rwm1962]

Endorphins are cool.

 

[Tsundere]

It's certainly good for the mind, body and spirit, for me there's nothing quite like it, especially in these crazy times where electronics dominates everything, jump on a nice old bike and you are instantly lifted out of the modern world, just you, the machine and the trail, track or road. Even cruising around urban areas can be incredibly relaxing, but it's out in the sticks away from the noise and the traffic where cycling really comes into its own.

And bike wheels are literal black magic.

 

[markoc]

There's a huge amount to be said for just getting your head down and hammering out some miles, pootling there and back to see how far it is, or taking a deep breath and chucking yourself headlong down a trail.

Fresh air, good views, maybe some cake or a pint; it can be a shared experience or some much needed solitude.

I don't ride to master the bicycle, and the fitness is a by-product at my age rather than an output. In my mid-life, it is a tonic to my mental health and wellbeing - and the sooner us hairy 4rsed blokes started talking about it, the better.

 

[grantoury]

It's certainly good for the mind, body and spirit, for me there's nothing quite like it, especially in these crazy times where electronics dominates everything, jump on a nice old bike and you are instantly lifted out of the modern world, just you, the machine and the trail, track or road. Even cruising around urban areas can be incredibly relaxing, but it's out in the sticks away from the noise and the traffic where cycling really comes into its own.

And bike wheels are literal black magic.

Just a huge amount of power in a spinning wheel, very impressive

 

[dorset boy]

Nah !

 

[grantoury]

Nah !

Not even on the beautiful roads of Dorset, with some excellent (female) company?

 

[novocaine]

Bike or foot its irrelevant to me, being outside and moving is good for the soul.