Mindlessness

One of the greatest joys I have in riding, is the sense of mindlessness that occurs when I ride. I am not looking for something in particular, I’m allowing what I see to find, me, in a sense.

Often, riding feels somewhat surreal. There is the visceral feeling of vibration, wind, speed, engine sound, and the way light plays on the road and the surroundings, yet there is something else as well that takes hold. There is the feeling that you are seeing something with new eyes, as if for the first time.

I’m a photographer and have been for more than fifty years. I see the world not just as a physical representation, but as light, as shadow, as contrast and color. Sometimes it’s a shape or the symmetry of an object on the horizon. Sometimes it’s the composition of a building against the landscape or sky. And what is most interesting, is that this happens subconsciously, usually in retrospect. I’ll look back on a particular ride and become aware of how comfortable and detached I was to my daily problems and concerns.

Riding brings a clarity to my thinking, that I can’t duplicate any other way. It seems to synthesize my days emotions and interactions, playing like a short reel that sometimes I feel I need to journal, or write down.

Riding, is like meditation. It enables me to think, to see objectively and to reach conclusions that were likely there all along, but needed the opportunity for my mind to relax, to ‘see’ whatever the issue was, in my mind’s eye.

I don’t know if this is the same for all of us, but I think it may be part of the reason why we, as a collective of people who enjoy interacting with others, but even moreso the solitude of the ride. It can be zen-like.

I have a vision of one of my rides that seems to come to my mind often. It’s of a highway in Waterton Lakes National Park, just before I get to the US border, riding uphill watching the light play on the mountains in the distance, behind a valley filled with the greenest fir trees I’d ever seen. It’s a place my mind retreats to again and again. I can hear the wind, smell the forest, feel the vibration of my bike’s engine, and it brings a smile to my face.

I hope you have that experience. I hope you find beauty and solace in the sheer joy of riding. For me, it’s why I ride.

Ciao…