If you had asked a year ago if I could imagine spending hours pedalling on a quiet road in the early hours of the morning, I would have simply laughed and poured you another drink. The stuff on two wheels started as part of the fitness thing but it has taken on a life of its own. Sure the fitness helps and you can only enjoy the rest of it if you’re not killing yourself trying to pedal at a constant 25km/h. So, if you spare the pun, its a cycle – you ride to get fit and the fitter you are, the better the ride. In the same way, the tight cycling clothes really only look good if you are good and vice versa.
That said, there’s the other stuff – the philosophical bits. Did you really think it was just about two wheels on a frame, a bit of chain and some aluminium things?
First, if you are pedalling along and minding your own business, there is no guarantee a taxi won’t come from behind and knock you over. Shit happens – that’s life. Next, a bicycle is an inherently unstable thing – deal with the instability. Cycling is about balancing. It helps if you pedal faster but you can’t do that forever, sometimes you have to get off the bike. Finally, know that you will fall over sometime. If your cleats are still attached to your pedals, there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. Just hope a taxi doesn’t come by when that happens.
