Today we’re going on a bicycle ride! So, put on your riding clothes and helmets, grab your water bottles, and let’s go! We’re doing this because last year, a former student of mine, John Drescher, sent me an article on bicycle riding that he had written. I liked it so much, I asked John if I could use it on my blog. He graciously said yes! So, let’s allow John to take us along on an amazing bicycle ride. Hang on!
John’s article appeared in a digital magazine called The Assembly. According to its website, The Assembly is a monthly magazine that “delivers reporting and storytelling deep into the heart of North Carolina’s triumphs, challenges, and complexities.” It covers areas such as politics and government, higher education and K-12, courts and justice, business, health, and culture. John is one of the co-founders of this publication and a senior editor. At 66, he recently retired from a life devoted to journalism, including years with The Raleigh News & Observer and The Washington Post. (When I taught John many years ago at Cardinal Gibbons High School in Raleigh, the total student enrollment was 217. Now it’s over 1500! As a senior, John helped resurrect the school newspaper and became its editor! I like to think that experience helped fuel his love for journalism.)
His article, “The Mysterious Power of the Bicycle Time Machine,” was published last November. It describes an annual bike-riding “odyssey across the state of North Carolina,” sponsored by North Carolina Amateur Sports. Each year a different route is chosen. Last year’s route was 396 miles–cut short by 77 miles due to a coastal storm on the final day. Over 800 people participated in the journey–including John. It was his sixth ride. The participants came from 38 states as well as Canada, Scotland, and England. The average age was 63; the oldest rider was 88!
What is it about riding a bicycle that draws so many people? John spoke with some of the riders. Mark Savage, 57, said that riding a bike takes him back to his childhood. “You come over a hill, and it’s like it was when it was you and two of your friends.” He added that bike riding “can be a time machine for sure.” Another cyclist recalled getting his first bike on his 8th birthday. His mother brought it to school that day and he rode it home. It was “his ticket to freedom.”
John says the bicycle is “an engineering marvel. The design fuses human and machine. A cyclist moves four times faster than when on foot while expending five times less energy.” Many cyclists were former runners, until running took a toll on their knees, ankles and feet. But cycling has little impact on the lower body and you can often ride for many years after you’ve hung up your running shoes. Another cyclist said bike riding enables him to reach an “altered consciousness.” Not necessarily an “enlightened state,” he said, “but definitely an enlivened one.” Said John, “Our afflictions–physical, emotional, spiritual–dissipate on the bicycle.” Another rider agreed, “There’s a therapeutic aspect to riding a bike.”
I loved this article. It made me recall how much pleasure my first bike gave me. I was 8 when my father took me to the Robert Hall store (a precursor of a “big box” store) where I picked out my first bike. It was a brand new baby blue and white 24″ single-speed Schwinn–and it was all mine! It even had colorful plastic strips hanging from the ends of the handlebar grips that fluttered in the wind as I rode. How cool was that? What freedom that bike gave me–even though there were some parental road restrictions. My bike allowed me faster access to my friends and wider access to the beautiful world of semi-rural Willoughby Hills, OH. In his article, John likens his early bikes to “cell phones of that era.” Back then, he couldn’t text his friends, but he could hop on his bike, ride over to their houses, and see what they were up to.
I would like to thank John for sharing his beautiful story with me and for giving me permission to share his complete article with you, my readers. If you would like to read John’s complete article in The Assembly, here’s the link. One caution: you are allowed a one-time access to this article. Once you leave, you probably will not be able to open the article again.
https://www.theassemblync.com/news/culture/sports/bicycle-mountains-to-coast-ride-nc/
Now here are some questions for your reflection:
Did anything stand out for you in this post?
Do you have any memories of bike riding from your childhood or youth?
Has bike riding ever been “a time machine” for you? Has it ever been “therapeutic” or taken you to an “enlivened state”?
Do you currently ride a bike? Why or why not?
John’s article highlights the fact that bike riding can nuture friendships. Are there other activities you engage in that do the same thing for you–activities you do with others such as walking, being in a book club, golfing, watching movies, crocheting/knitting, volunteering somewhere? If so, what are those activities?
Most of us probably can’t ride 500 miles on a bike. But I found many virtual cycling videos on YouTube. A lot of people watch these as they cycle on their indoor bikes. You can get cycling videos from places all over the world: the Alps, the California coast, the English countryside, and even a place close to your home. The one I chose for today rides through the Brasa Canyon and Lake Garda region in Italy. The entire video is 30 minutes, but you can watch as many minutes as you wish. It has music, too, but you can mute it if you prefer. Note, you can fast forward to 12 minutes, and the cyclist really speeds up–probably going down hill. At 23 minutes the beautiful Lake Garda comes into view. Happy cycling!
I welcome your comments below–on the reflection itself, the pictures, John’s complete article, the reflection questions, your own feelings about bike riding, and the virtual cycling video. Thank you!
9 Responses
Good morning, Melannie…
Good morning, all…
First, what a terrific article written by your former student. Well done, former English teacher!
Second, I must confess I’m not a big lover of bike riding — although after reading the article, that might change!
Third, I’d like to give a shout-out to the Pan-Mass Challenge bike-a-thon held each year in Massachusetts. It’s a one to two day event that features fourteen recognized routes ranging from twenty-five to 177 miles. The goal of the PMC is to raise money for cancer research. This past summer it raised a whopping 79 million dollars! And since its inception in 1980, it has raised over a billion dollars! With much of that money going to the Jimmy Fund, a fund used to raise money for research of adult and pediatric cancer.
I loved riding my bike all over the neighborhood and beyond! It felt so freeing. I had a basket on the handle bars and would go to the library anytime, get my books and come home to read I felt in charge of my life before I was old enough to drive. And even then it was better and more fun to ride my bike— didn’t have to buy gas, find a parking place,etc Later as a nun my sister had to give up her bike and gave it to me. I rode all over Canton on it. I remember my first bike. I bought it second hand with my First Communion money —$21🥹I felt so grown up. Great memories. Thanks for this blog and the wonderful bike ride through Italy and my memories!
Bicycle
On foot you can hike
With feet you can bike
Freedom for the elder and the child
Taking you into the wild
With the wind you soar
Old and new terrain to explore
Pedals and wheels we travel about
Taking us on our route
The feeling we get from our bike
What’s not to like!
GJD
What a beautiful reflection on bicycling! A few of my friends gather often to play our mountain dulcimers and share our lives. We play Amazing Grace for any special intentions.
Thank you for sharing this article from your form student. I have cyclist friends that will enjoy reading it.
My wife and I recently visited Amsterdam. As a walker and hiker, it was intimidating to be in a place geared for cyclists. They are quiet and suddenly appear, forcing an additional safety precaution on every walkway and intersection. If you were lucky the riders rang a handlebar bell.
Finally, one of the memories shared between my sister and me recently was the two new bikes we received around 8 years old. She had a blue girls and mine was a red boys.
Giddy up & God Bless!
I remember the first time I learned to ride a bicycle was when I was in my mid 20s. I just came from the Philippines alone with no friends or families around. My boss found out I did not know how to ride a bicycle and told her mom about it. That weekend I was taught to ride one… the significant thing about this was the fact that my boss’ mom had cancer that disfigured her face and did not want to be with others than her own family! I was blessed because it was her first time to meet me… her heart went out to me for not knowing how to ride a bicycle at my age! That was the beginning of a long lasting friendship! God bless us all!! Thanks for sharing this blog and article, it brought back good memories!!
I also grew up in a semi-rural community in Orange Village, Ohio where houses were far apart and our local block was 4 miles long. Only way to get around the neighborhood to visit friends was walking or riding a bike. Being in a large family ( 9 kids) my sisters and I shared a bike which one of us won at a local carnival. What joy and freedom! I actually loved to pedal around the block on my own enjoying the view and private inspection. Sadly, orthopedic injuries and early arthritis joint issues keep me off cycling and I do miss it. Thanks for sharing John’s article, so interesting reading others stories and joy in sharing bike rides.
The weather yesterday had many people out riding yesterday. I must have seen 15 or more riders of all ages just on my ride to church.
Oh what a flight of memories! We had one bike which we shared. Surprisingly, I don’t remember any arguments over whose turn it was. I do remember the times my mom would ask me if I wanted to ride to Jone’s park, in our small town in Wisconsin, with my friend Joanne who lived across the street. Mother would pack me a little lunch of crackers and p’butter and an apple (there was a water fountain at the park) and off we would go for a couple of hours…..what a delight that was, and ,yes, freedom!
On another note, my youngest brother, who at age 74 died of a glioblastoma last November, was able to go bike riding with a friend up till the very end….they had a date set for the day he died, in fact. His physicians said they believe he lived longer than most because he was determined to stay as active as possible till the end, with no treatments. We all were in awe of how determined he was to live to the fullest and still get real joy out of life.
I am enjoying the virtual bike ride….planning to return to it in stages!
A little comment on going down memory lane….I am currently making a 30 week Ignation retreat and I am reliving memories for better or worse during my reflection time. Thanks be to our loving, cherishing God for always being with me, no matter the decisions I made.
Thank you S. Melannie
My brother-inlaw did a ride across Nebraska, twice, once with one of his daughters. My dad bought me a 26″ bike when I was 8 or 9. It was so big for me I couldn’t sit on the seT for a year or so. So once I was on it, I had to pedal furiously, no coasting. Too bad today kids don’t have the freedom simply to take off on bikes and ride anywhere as we did.