Some Life Lessons Learned from Cycling – Part 2

Cycling teaches us plenty. How to take care of ourselves. How to take care of others. How to handle change. Some of us just pick up the learning more readily than others. We can rationalize, avoid, and attack the things that we don’t want to do, but the natural world eventually wins out. Sort of like driving a car. All of us studied the same rules and passed the same tests to obtain a driver’s license, yet the safe practice of driving is variable. Some drivers pick up the lesson well, while others are hopeless behind the wheel. All we can do is hope they eventually get a clue before Nature wins out.

Practice What We Learn From Cycling

Cycling often reduces natural laws (i.e. gravity, physiology – even psychology) down to concentrated lessons. that are portable and easy to recognize.

Be kind

What we put out into the world, comes back to us. So the inclination may be to flip off the distracted driver who almost hit me riding, a creative response is a smile and a shake of the head. This unplugs the emotions and I choose to change the conversation. It also tends to really confuse drivers (they can be such simple creatures at times) who may be expecting a fight. Just ride your own race, not someone else’s.

Make some friends. Friends come in all, shapes, sizes, ages, and personalities. They also show up in your life at unpredictable but incredibly appropriate times. Friendships are informal agreements. Maybe it is this impermanence that makes friends so special in life. What we receive from these connections is exponentially more than what we put in – we just have to be open and contribute.

Quality over quantity. This applies to everything from friends to miles. More of anything mediocre is still just mediocre. Find and cultivate the things in life that are special to you.

Lean into It

With cycling, we develop an understanding of Nature works and how to work closely with others. As we develop confidence through practice, our performance boundaries can often lie far beyond where we thought they were. Shifting one’s center of gravity into a turn, leaning in, provides higher performance but it means that I have to trust in myself and the world around me.

Trust who you are and what you can do. Grow from your mistakes and develop patience with yourself. You are always a work in progress. Old mistakes need not be repeated.

[pullquote2 style=”left” quote=”dark”]When I hang onto anger, I am missing the now where I can still change things.[/pullquote2]

Be a healthy skeptic but trust others whenever possible. People may fail you at times but start them off at 100% trust anyway. If we don’t take the risk, we pass on the opportunities to grow and learn. Besides, if everyone works together, we accomplish so much more than if we are trying to do things all on our own.

Let go of anger. Anger clouds thinking and takes your power from you. When I hang onto anger, I am missing the now where I can still change things. When I abdicate responsibility for my now, anyone else can step up and take it. And they do.

Responsibility

Take care of your mind, body, & machine. Prepare for your journeys appropriately. We can all have a bad day but if you come unprepared, the group has no obligation to take care of you.

Learn how to fix your own problems. Unless you are among the lucky few who have people to take care of you, prepare to take care of your own needs. Others will help when you are truly in need – just don’t intentionally be a burden to others.

Help others. Ever been amazed by a cycling group? A large group of riders, both teammates and competitors, all riding at high-speed and separated by only inches of space. How do they do that? Why do they do that?

They care for each other.

The group can accomplish things that individuals cannot. In taking care of one another, we take care of ourselves. Whether in actions that contribute to the safety of the group (calling out hazards ahead) or assisting struggling individuals (helping someone fix a flat tire), we stay healthy by giving back.

Get Up After Falling

Loss is inevitable in life. Some we pick ourselves up and brush ourselves off. Others times, it takes more time and work.

Getting back on the bike after a crash, similar to coming back from a large personal loss. It is sometimes a difficult and complicated journey. No two people are alike in their recovery either.

Physical injuries can heal quickly but the mental healing can take a while to overcome. The point is to get back up again.

We are tougher than we think.

Get Some Rest

Visualize

Picture where you want to go and what you want to do first. This may sound obvious but I encounter a number of individuals who may know where they are going this weekend but not much beyond.

My best visualization experience was when I visualized a race course that I had ridden many times. I knew the tricky turns and challenges and saw myself overcoming each hurdle with ease. The problem was I never visualized crossing the finish line. On race day, everything went according to plan, until the finish line where I just fell apart.

Lesson learned.

Teach Others What You Learned While Cycling

We complete the circle by becoming the educators who so helped us when we were first learning.

With so many trials and lessons learned, sharing with others is a natural progression. Whether it is a pleasant pedaling conversation with a newbie or responding to questions posted on social media, share what you know. You know that yours is not the only way, so stay humble. It reflects well of your character that has been so shaped by being a cyclist. Just share.

I thought of that while riding my bicycle.

— Albert Einstein

 

I have a hard time looking at a heavy breakfast in the eye most mornings. I know I need to eat but the idea of food is just not appetizing in the early hours. Smoothies solve the problem for me.

Here’s a quick and easy recipe that goes together in just a few minutes but the nutrition will get you through the morning workout or just work. This is also a great way to enjoy seasonal blueberries.