It's A New Year!

Well it's another year done and dusted. As I sit here on my back patio taking it easy on New Year's morning I can't help but try and put some scope, not only on the future, but collectively on the past as well.

I've come along way I think, or have I just gone around in circles? Or is it just a putting of  yourself and desires into perspective and prioritising them once again.

I started cycling again in 2014 to help my, then ten year old, daughter out. I fell in love with the freedom and the sheer enjoyment cycling bought into my life.

I then wanted to improve. I bought a carbon bike upgrading from my basic entry level bike, and a track bike. I became consumed with training, weight loss, speed, endurance and Strava averages. I wanted to race both track and road. I wanted to get good enough to go away and compete. I wanted to relive my youth that had long gone by and was plagued with missed opportunities, mistakes and mishaps. In a sense I guess I wanted some form of recompense and recognition.

Sounds funny I know, but as pastor of a small fellowship some years back I found myself in a situation that you sought the approval of men. In a sense cycling had become my newest religion. It was no longer a goal of enjoyment, freedom or inner enlightenment, It was a race, a competition. I had allowed myself to seek the approval of men once again, and their opinion of me mattered more than even my own.

I tried to enjoy racing once again, I really did...both road an track. But in the end it just didn't float my boat, it just didn't cut the custard.

I then had a turn around, a reverting, a re-birth so to speak. It was no longer about how far I road, not about how fast, if I had a carbon bike or if my belly protruded from behind my jersey and bib-shorts. It was no longer about Stavas or fitness, opinions or impressions. It once again was all about pure pleasure, freedom, that inner peace that only comes from meandering slowly through the country side, or steadily to the local shops taking it all in. Heading out for a quiet afternoon ride with my wife and kids, looking at the smiles on their faces. This is what cycling is to me and in a country whose perception of cycling is mainly that of a "sport", so much can be missed.

Cycling is so much more than a sport. Cycling, in its essence, is no more a sport than kids swimming at the beach or splashing around in the back yard pool. Sport is only one element, a chalk and cheese if you wish.

So yes, as I reflect maybe I have only gone around full circle, maybe I haven't progressed, but rather regressed. Maybe this is what re-incarnation really is. Not so much a re-birth as a bug, a dog or a horse; but rather a do-over, a new birth into what really matters in your heart. Maybe its a chance to go around and around until we get it. I don't know.

But I do know this, I haven't enjoyed cycling, oops, riding my bike like I do. Its become personal, a thing of the heart once again. It's no longer what "I need to" but rather what "I want to".

I suppose you have to try things to see if they work, I certainly don't regret giving as many elements of cycling a go like I have done, although my wallet probably does (and maybe my wife)...lol.
You have to try a recipe to see if it works, and as I say to my kids, "How do you know if you don't like it of you won't try it?"

I am at peace where I am, at reverence, and I look forward to a new year full of cycling adventures. Whether they be a ride with friends or family, a ride to the coffee shop or the supermarket, a 30 km/h blast, or a slow multi day bike trip.

Anyway, whatever the New Year brings, I hope it brings joy and prosperity of the heart. I hope it is kind to you and leads you down some unfamiliar paths that can expand your reasoning and perceptions of life and what really matters. I hope you get, and take the chance to travel a road less traveled and experience a newness, a freshness of life, even if it is a do-over, a re-incarnation of a lost chance to find peace in something that you missed long ago.

Happy new year everyone, and as always, Safe Cycling.