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Bike Lit
Inspired by Nanci's "Tar Baby Rat Fetus" (if you haven't read it, search it- it's a really good read) and the fact that so many of us take our quiet 'us' time on the roads or trails to fit words together, I thought I'd start a thread on our words of the wheels, as it were... Please- share!
The Funny Thing About Biking
The funny thing about biking is that it's so hard to truly describe it. I tend to be a woman of words and can describe most elusive things, like the subtle effects of intoxicants or the alluring gaze of a pulchritudinous admirer in candlelight... but to tell a non-cyclist of riding:
"It makes me feel free- I'm soaring by my own power. With the wind on my face and the sun on my skin, it makes me feel real again, in a world of digital information and intangibles. The vibration of the handlebars and the ache in my legs are real..."
They stare in incomprehension and say "But you're only going 15 mph! You went way out on country roads, just meandering; you didn't even have a destination! You got sunburn and wind burn. Your muscles are so sore you can hardly walk..."
That's where the cyclist in me says "The destination was not only the confirmation that I truly exist in this world, but that I also exist as the strong, beautiful woman I always thought I was."
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Hmmm, describing the whole biking thing.....
I really hadn't thought about it, Kitsune, but you're right -- words just don't do it, do they?
Bicycling brings me back into my body, and takes me out into a world I've ignored for many years. It challenges me both physically and mentally. For example, it's not a pretty thing when I climb a hill, let me tell you. It's a battle every foot of the way. More within myself than actually with the slope of the road, I think. Why, then, do I climb? It's not for the ride down, though that's one heckuva reward. It's the incredible, triumphant, breath-giving feeling when I reach the top that I DID IT! I beat the demons inside me that keep telling me "no you can't" one more time, and I DID IT!
And this too, maybe most of all: At the end of the day, when my whole body aches from the work, and I'm exhausted, I feel tall.
Karen in Boise
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Thanks Kit. I just learned a new word: pulchritudinous "Characterized by or having great physical beauty and appeal."
I'm afraid my mind doesn't dwell on words when I'm riding. But I did once spend a 2 week hike inventing a formula for apparent pack weight as a function of slope (power law), temperature (exponential), time of day (linear), mudiness (logarithmic), hunger, etc. By contrast my cycling mind seems pretty blank - maybe too many neurons required to monitor road conditions, traffic, cadence, gear shifts, etc.
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(Thankyou, Kitsune) This is my other piece of cycling writing that is the most descriptive. http://tinyurl.com/k94b9 It seems like deeply disturbing things inspire me...
Nanci
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