Spring arrived, bringing with it a sense of excitement for the months ahead.
I set a goal: I want to see how much cycling I can do before winter returns.
I like to get out on a Sunday morning on my carbon fibre racing bike, and crank out a 100 km ride. I have set a goal of doing 1800 kms before winter returns.
I commute to work on another bike, that’s only 5 kms each way so adds up to 50 kms per week.
But I got this idea in my head that I want to make the most of the good weather and the warm days coming and just bike into the city with a camera and take photographs.
‘You can do that on the bikes you already have’ you might be thinking. But … I got this obsession in my mind: get a single speed bike.
I researched and started hunting around. Single Speed bikes and Fixed Speed bikes are how all bikes used to be. Now they are now classed as ‘cool’, ‘hip’, ‘trendy’ but are also known as the bikes for hard core serious cyclists.
I found a local business, Bespoked Cycles, here in Christchurch, NZ, which puts them together however you want them. And so … there it began … the fruition of my new dream.
Derek, the owner of Bespoked Cycles, delivered my new bike yesterday, and even threw in some free bike lights!
I took off on a short ride, but was driven home by rain, and then in the afternoon went to catch up with a friend, and cycled to her house the very long way!
This bike is an absolute blast to ride! What I found so weird was how often, when riding, I ask myself ‘do I need to shift up/down a gear’. On this bike, there are no gears, there is just me, the Single Speed Cyclist. On these bikes you just ride.
Am I in love with this bike? Totally! But then again, I love my other bikes too, I love them for what they give me. My carbon fibre gives me long rides and a great workout. My commute (steel frame racing bike) allows me to get to and from work with my dog on the bike. My greatest challenge with these two bikes is this: everything is a race! I can’t help myself! The Single Speed bike … I can’t race … once I am up to speed there is no gear to jump up to … so I am not racing, I am not competing. I am just riding.
One of the things I love so much about cycling is that it is great therapy for any stress or worries that might be going on. I recommend cycling to everyone, just to deal with their stress and anxiety. Just get out there and ride, move the body, exercise. Don’t sit in a room with your thoughts going round and round in your mind. Get outside, go for a bike ride! Do something!
The city I live in is part of the Canterbury Plains. So, as you can imagine, a lot of it is flat. It is the perfect city for cycling. (Though having said that we have idiot drivers who think the roads belong to them just because they can afford a car and seem to have a vague idea of how to drive—many drive like complete morons!) I pick my routes with care. I watch the traffic when I am cycling, and I trust my sixth sense if I feel someone is about to do something dumb.
When my mother was a teenager and worked in the city she would leave work at the end of her working day and the streets would be a sea of bicycles. Not many people could afford cars, so they cycled. It was normal, it was the natural way of things.
My new bike is all about not telling myself how long or how fast I have to ride. It is just about riding for the joy of riding, going places where I can stop, enjoy the scenery, breathe in the scent of blossoms, take photographs, stop at a coffee cart and get a coffee if I want to. It’s about taking time for me.
Have you noticed how people seem to be so busy these days. Always doing doing doing. Well, when spring approached, I made the decision to start prioritizing time for me, for fun, for joy! The days are getting longer, the weather is warming up, and I want to make the most of it. I don’t want summer to fly by and me look back and think ‘sheesh, I barely enjoyed it, all I did was work’. Not this time. This time I want to look back and say I conquered riding goals, I got out and enjoyed the beautiful weather, I took many great photographs while I was out on my SS. I covered parts of the city I had not been to before.
I also plan on getting out for great walks with my dog, Axel. Yes, there will be days when I sit on my patio with a mug of excellent tea, my dog rolling on the lawn, and my two cats sitting on top of the fence or lying on the patio beside me. I will make time for that too, because that feeds my soul as much as riding does.
And I will take time to just stop. Breathe. Feel. Exhale.
I am so grateful for so many things and so many people.
It’s time to pause and look at all the wonderful things to appreciate. Stop being so busy, and start appreciating life.
My new bike … is about me slowing down and enjoying all that is around me and within me.