Those who know me know about my passion for cycling. They know all the miles that I accumulate pedaling up and down the hills near my home, they have seen the many photographs that I have taken while riding down the Southern California coast and they have read how I spend hours in the garage tending to my “herd” of bikes.
It is easy for me to explain the “it” of bike riding. What is harder, a lot harder, for me to do is to explain the “why” of cycling. After all, how can you convey to a non-cycling friend the joy of trading the warmth and comfort of my bed for a 50-mile ride in the wind and rain? How can you adequately explain pain’s liberating effect after spending 6 or 8 hours on the saddle? How can you communicate the sheer exhilaration of knowing that you can travel from Point A to Point B on this wonderful, human-powered machine called “a bicycle?”
Words simply cannot explain what it feels like to force your heart and mind and sinew to keep turning the pedals long after there is nothing more left in you except that little voice in your head telling you not to quit.
In the BBC documentary aptly titled, “It’s All About the Bike,” (based on the book by the same title) long-time British rider, author and filmmaker Robert Penn, travels across two continents as he searches for components to build his perfect, dream bike. Along the way, Penn shares with the audience his love for the bike, which Penn calls the “most perfect machine” ever devised by man.
Long-time BH resident xxPhantomxx Swordthain sent me a link to the BBC production of “It’s All About the Bike.” Due to YouTube file size limits, the hour-long program has been broken into six segments, each approximately 10 minutes long--please be sure to watch all six parts.
After you watch “It’s All About the Bike” you will then perhaps begin to understand the seeds of my passion for my trusty “steeds.”
Thank you Swordthain for the link.
It’s All About the Bike
2 comments:
Nice post Debbie. Riding a bike is the most fun thing that an adult can do on two wheels!!!
Keep on riding!
Debbie, some things defy explanation. As a rider I also have a hard time explaining the attraction of bike riding to non-cyclists. When I tell them about the pain and how liberating it can be, they just roll their eyes.
Enjoy the road and be safe!
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