Why I Ride

I ride a bike because it is good for me.

There is no doubt at all that exercise is good for you.  Good for your heart.  Good for your health. 

Exercise reduces your blood pressure (a problem for me).  It helps to control you weight (which can lead to all manner of health problems).  Exercise gives you the strength to tolerate the burdens of every day.

I lift weights and do CrossFit but for my main method of exercising, I choose the bicycle.

I ride the bike because it helps me stay young.

If you're honest with yourself, doesn't everyone really want that? 

Let me tell you about walking into my grankids' basketball game a couple of weeks ago.  It was chilly outside so all the other grandparents were bundled up with scarves, boots, and toboggans.

I arrive on my bike after spending the morning riding around south Blount County.  I had stashed shorts and a sweatshirt in my wife's van.  I slipped those on over my bike outfit.

So I walk in with all these other grandparents and I've got on shorts with leg warmers sticking out below them (looked like leggings), a hoodie, and a ragged baseball cap. 

Get the picture?  I didn't "dress my age" at all.  Or at least by most definitions.

I don't think my grandkids were embarrassed by it at all.  They're probably used to it.  My wife has learned to expect it.  But why do we have to be concerned with all that? 

I refuse to allow candles on a birthday cake define who I am or what I do.  I believe in the pursuit of happiness and if that means riding a mountain bike faster down a hill than you think a man "my age" should or climbing Buttefly Gap on my road bike, then so be it.

I ride because it helps me do my job.

Really?  Yep, really.  Regular exercise helps keep us sharp mentally.  Studies have made that clear.

I suspect that's what you expect from me.  I know that when one of your children are injured playing sports, you want me at my best.

I ride because it is fun.

Ever ride a roller coaster?  Coming down Allegheny Loop Road is a lot like that.  Mountain biking a flowy trail?  Same thing.  Ever ride a motorcycle on The Dragon?  Fun, huh.  I find riding a bicycle much like that.

I don't ride because I have a death wish.  I know the dangers out there from riding on the same roads with vehicles that would kill me if we're in a collision but I fear teenagers texting and driving far more than any of that.

I don't ride to make you late for wherever you are going.  Those 20 seconds that it costs you in waiting to pass me safely will not change your life.

I ride because I love it.