The bicycle is my freedom machine

After a hectic summer schedule where my riding and workout consistency looked similar to someone with a binge/purge eating disorder, it seems that I am deep into a gluttonous riding season. It’s been truly glorious and all this time on my bike has given me a lot of time to think. Today, I’d like to share some of what I have been thinking about.

Jen and I were on the way home from Madison where we moved Kid A into a new apartment for her 3rd year of college. We exhaled. It felt different. It felt like after a rewarding but busy summer schedule, we were back to our own schedule. Unlike last year where we spent this period of fall in Steamboat Springs we were home and settling into our lives with our twins living independently and the challenges of meeting the demands of our two pets.

For me personally and professionally, this fall has been great. I have some consulting work and some photography work going on. I am still trying to define the next path forward for my sewing business. But those things are topics for another day. Today’s post is about riding bikes. I have bene busy, busy, busy with bikes and riding. My love of bikes and riding has only grown stronger. There may have been point in my life where due to time, life, work and too many commitments that photography took over as my number one passion. That is no longer. I can’t even tell you how much joy bikes and riding bikes brings to my life right now.

My path to cycling likely started like most kids. It was a way for me to escape a bit. I could ride down the road .7 miles to friends house. Later on I could ride to town from our farm to see my friend Ricky. Later it allowed me to ride to the public swimming pool. Later in my teens after my first knee surgery, I was given the option to swim or bike as low impact therapy. That choice was so easy. It was also the pivotal point in my life where cycling changed from transportation to passion.

Little did I know that back then I was training myself to use the bicycle to define a future path and experience the world beyond my small town I grew up in. Cycling has brought me so much in my life. In the beginning it brought me some cash while working my way through college. It gave me lifelong friendships and continues to introduce me to amazing people all over the country and world. Cycling has given me health and happiness. I have ridden from Alaska to Utah. I’ve toured in Japan. I have ridden through the hop fields of Germany. I’ve raced across Switzerland when I left my passport in Germany! I’ve ridden all sorts of gravel throughout the USA. I’ve ridden the Alaska coastline on fatbikes. I’ve eaten frozen pizza between two slices of ham on Devil’s Track lake in the middle of winter. I could go on and on. So many experiences. It has been my greatest form of mental therapy, as well as the most expensive form of therapy. It is the place where I work through my personal challenges and set goals. It is the place where I feel the most creative. Who knew cycling could get even better when I mixed photography into the cycling recipe. As I wrote above, cycling has given me so much joy. It’s been a constant in my life. One of which I needed.

You’d think that in my soon to be mid 50’s that I’d find new passions, new hobbies or take a break. That is simply not the case. As I wrote above I think I am more in love with cycling and bicycle than I ever have been. I continue to learn, and re learn, while aboard my freedom machine.

And with that, I want to share a few of my favorite photos from my fall riding binge. Yeah, it’s been good. Real good. As always, click on any image to go to slideshow mode. Thanks for stopping by and letting me share. It’s time for me to get back out there!