Marc Kitteringham
One of my favourite things about riding is the moment that all thought is forgotten. This is the moment where you feel most alive. This is the moment that I srtive for every time I'm on the bike.
I've been interested in eastern thought for most of my adult life. I've read up on and practiced Zazen (sitting) meditation, Yoga, studied Tibetan Buddhist philosophy, read and thought upon books like The Book of Tea by Kakuzo Okakura, Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig and even more traditional Buddhist writings like the Tibetan Book of the Dead. The ideas of achieving personal peace through meditation and introspection have been very interesting to me, as have the ideals of Zen thought and the concept of achieving a sort of enlightenment have helped me improve as a person over the years.
In the study of Zazen meditation, coming close to the moment of clarity has been likened to "getting in the zone" as one does playing sports. I think that this zone is where we are most at peace with ourselves and it is also where we perform at a certain level of perfection that is unacheivable otherwise. It is at this point that whatever tools we are using become a part of ourselves. They become an extension of our bodies and the use of these tools help us achieve an almost artistic level of skill in whatever we are doing. At a certain point, a bike can be such a tool.
I have had a chance to do a lot of introspection on my rides lately. I have been feeling more at home with myself and who I am, and have felt more comfortable in who I have become lately, and I think it is because of the introspective rides I have gone on. I also think this is what has led me to want to explore this further. This month, I will be exploring the relationship between eastern practices and cycling, and seeing how getting into that zone, having that feeling, makes us better riders and better people.
Whether that means nearing the top of a difficult climb, balancing on a skinny log 60 feet above the forest floor or just cruising down the street on a jaunt to the local watering hole, I think that everybody who rides a bike has experienced the feeling where everything else melts away and you're suddenly simply present in the moment. Now.