tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8908461644259659419.post4522746316542236975..comments2024-03-28T14:04:01.556-07:00Comments on Midlife Cycling: Are You Pondering What I'm Pondering?Justine Valinottihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10852069587181432102noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8908461644259659419.post-502292340267241682016-12-20T17:31:46.396-08:002016-12-20T17:31:46.396-08:00Leo and Annie--I have always hoped for comments li...Leo and Annie--I have always hoped for comments like these.Justine Valinottihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10852069587181432102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8908461644259659419.post-89483738065231578942016-12-20T05:44:58.524-08:002016-12-20T05:44:58.524-08:00At the risk of getting tedious, I append a footnot...At the risk of getting tedious, I append a footnote...<br /><br />The ride is a meditation. Thoughts arise in the mind, but you pay no attention to them. Neither do you TRY and suppress them, as that itself would be a thought. One's mind goes on like a movie, but we are not watching it. Empty, and yet hyper aware at the same time. It is a delicate balance. After an hour or two of riding "empty minded", one is for once living in the present moment and not, as we most often are, in the past or the future. And the entire rides shrinks down to one pure crystalized moment.<br /><br />Leo<br /><br />Thank you, AnnieAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8908461644259659419.post-86939383491323852672016-12-18T13:29:42.980-08:002016-12-18T13:29:42.980-08:00Leo--After reading what you've just described,...Leo--After reading what you've just described, if I were in any position to give you an airport runway, I would!Justine Valinottihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10852069587181432102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8908461644259659419.post-18653045694517399492016-12-18T08:48:27.016-08:002016-12-18T08:48:27.016-08:00Hmmm...Perhaps anonymous below comes close. A phys...Hmmm...Perhaps anonymous below comes close. A physical and spiritual need?anniebikeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02737989268380822651noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8908461644259659419.post-82209932735913951142016-12-18T08:46:16.670-08:002016-12-18T08:46:16.670-08:00Wonderful.Wonderful.anniebikeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02737989268380822651noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8908461644259659419.post-17699554360761977002016-12-18T07:01:10.251-08:002016-12-18T07:01:10.251-08:00For me cycling is close to being a religion. Bette...For me cycling is close to being a religion. Better to say it is a sort of very physical yoga, an extension of my more traditional yogic practices. There are my own rituals involved. Unless I'm just headed down to pick up a loaf of bread, dressing and actually getting under way can take 20 minutes, with at least five minutes spent astride the bike in silence, doing breathing exercises. Then I start up very slowly, watching each and every motion I make, taking care with symmetries of the body, being relaxed, riding in all possible positions at this point and doing sharp turn exercises. (All my bikes have drop bars.) Gradually I go faster, go more aero, find a good pace for this day. My guide has been Yehudi Menuhin writing of similar yogic practices for violinists. And I played the violin and viola for decades, before I started having shoulder problems. I used to have a displaced vertebrae in my lower back that I have been able to correct with yoga and cycling.<br /><br />My fantasy is to be able to use an entire big airport runway so I could do this with eyes closed and never run out of asphalt.<br /><br />LeoAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8908461644259659419.post-275446869706266992016-12-17T15:54:23.946-08:002016-12-17T15:54:23.946-08:00Coline and Annie--Could we say that cycling is our...Coline and Annie--Could we say that cycling is our religion, only better?Justine Valinottihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10852069587181432102noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8908461644259659419.post-39293700019935833292016-12-17T06:30:33.732-08:002016-12-17T06:30:33.732-08:00Not everyone has this mind expansion or religious ...Not everyone has this mind expansion or religious affiliation with cycling of course - the rationales. Not everyone understands my passion, including my immediate family, for cycling. I either commented on my blog or someone else's blog that cycling to me is my religion - not something I was conscious of until it came out of my mouth - so thank you for speaking about this. Like you I have this life-long love of cycling that I gravitate toward to experience the outdoors, to clear my mind, to process and endure heartache, to move slowly through the world at a pace that is within my control. If that's what traditional religion does for others, then yes, cycling is my motivation and religion.anniebikeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02737989268380822651noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8908461644259659419.post-6915644013389920302016-12-16T18:55:39.656-08:002016-12-16T18:55:39.656-08:00The magical mind expansion when cycling has to be ...The magical mind expansion when cycling has to be experienced to be believed. Better by far than any religion ...Colinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01667939789517989280noreply@blogger.com