About four years ago, my soulmate and I hopped on “a fitness train”.
In addition to going to the gym, focusing on a healthy diet and meal-packing, she suggested we switch the way we move around the city.
“Why don’t we just ride bikes instead of taking the Subway every day?”
That grabbed my attention because using the subway and wasting 2,5 hours of my life was very frustrating.
I don’t know if it’s just me, but using the subway every single day, was making me feel like I trapped myself.
As if I stuck in a rut or something. I hated that feeling and desperately wanted to do something about it. And biking seemed like one way to go about it.
I’ve seen first hand how people ride bikes in New York City and it looked ridiculous and UNNECESSARY dangerous.
Some drivers don’t like bicyclists much. To be honest, I don’t think anybody does:)
If there is no bike lane, you have to share the road with traffic.
That part, in particular, wasn’t very appealing to me personally.
I couldn’t understand the hype: “With so many ways to die, and all of them are WAY MORE PLEASANT, why this one? And why speeding up the process at all?”
I’d literally ask her: “Why are you rushing to get to another world? I LOVE LIVING in this one! Haven’t you seen how some people drive… like crazy! Doesn’t it feel as if some people just bought their driver license”
Oh, boy, all the different things you come up with when you are not convinced nor want to do something.
And yes, fear is no joke, and traffic is crazy, and bicyclists do get run over by cars occasionally. But so do pedestrians as well.
The thing is, I was just lazy.
I loved comfort a bit too much.
And coming up with thousands of different excuses NOT TO do anything that pushed me out of my comfort zone was a hobby of mine for a very long time. I really excelled at that.
Unlike some people, that need that initial push to get going, I needed more like a kick in the nuts to “wake up”.
One beautiful sunny day, we were near Central Park, and we decided to rent a few bikes, go around the park and see if biking could be something we were into.
We went to the closest bike shop, asked a few questions, and were recommended to pick a couple of bikes we liked and take them for a spin. We went around the park and back to the shop.
She immediately fell in love with her bike telling me how awesome it was.
I didn’t.
I kinda hated it.
Or to be completely honest, my balls did!
We biked for about an hour or so.
Let me tell you something about that saddle. Oh, that damn saddle!
A specially designed bike seat with a hole in it that DOES NOTHING for you.
Created for better comfort, but in reality, it’s a nightmare.
A week later I was still walking like my poor butt had been savagely violated multiple times. What a joke.
Just get yourself a saddle as big as your “snake” and you’ll say thank you later.
“-So not that big then, huh?” 🙂
Anyway, when we got back to the shop, the way she was holding the bike, I could tell she wasn’t gonna give it back. Haha.
Yep, she bought it.
As for me, I decided to wait.
I wasn’t a very big fan of the only brand they had in the shop.
Since we only bought one bike, we took a subway train home.
If you’d like to observe how little patience and how much hatred people carry in their hearts, just go to New York City and take your bike on a subway train during rush hour.
You don’t even have to guess how people feel about it, they are more than happy to share it with you 🙂
I heard it’s said, God uses the Subway to send people to hell. As far as I can tell, it’s true.
Anyway, she seemed so happy and excited: “It’s so good, it’s so awesome, it’s so gorgeous. Look at this cute thing here, oh, look at that, blah blah blah.”
Well, now with all her bragging, she made me regret and envy that I didn’t get one myself.
I got so hyped up by her speech, and yelled: “WE SHOULD GET OFF THE TRAIN NOW, AND GO TO THIS ONE PLACE I KNOW! They close in 20 minutes, but if we hurry, we can make it!”
She was laughing like madman. It’s THAT easy to push my buttons, I guess.
Just a few moments ago, I was just saying:” You know, maybe some other time.” And now look at me, I couldn’t hold my horses.
We made it in time before they close, checked out the bikes. I actually liked quite a few of them.
I picked one for a test ride around the block.
I could feel it – that’s the one.
Had a few accessories installed and we were ready to go.
She said: “Oh, the Google Maps App says it’s just 6 minutes away from home!”
I tried to bring her to her senses and talk her out of it. “It’s already dark, we don’t have lights and helmets – it’s too dangerous. We could take a train and tomorrow we go for a ride.”
She wouldn’t listen, she just hopped on her bike, and yelled as she was riding away: “Come on, what are you a chicken or something?!”
She knew that’ll do the trick.
“Of course not! Do you know who I think I am?”- as I yelled back.
Haha, triggered very much.
Her “embracing” worked like a charm.
The ride home was truly amazing.
Did I mention it was all down the hill? Aww, that feeling…
But there is more.
Riding a bike with someone you deeply care for is astonishing.
Never mind the damn seat.
I got scared quite a few times but still enjoyed the ride quite a bit.
Important to note: If you are a newbie keep in mind that not using the bike lane is good for you if you struggle with constipation. So adjust your bike route accordingly.
Oh, for sure I ‘sharted’ quite a few times on my way home.
Twice nearly got run over by a cabby driver. SAME one!
Oh, he was an absolute mad lad. Me cutting him off a few times though might’ve had something to do with it:)
Given that it was my second ride in 15 years, I wonder what I’d done wrong.
Well, probably, buying the bike in the first place, and believing I could ride it amidst heavy traffic in the dark without lights 🙂
I remember thinking: I couldn’t understand the hype around it.
Why are we trying to kill ourselves? I have enough adrenaline and excitement in my life already, I don’t wanna add ANOTHER one thing that might get me killed 🙂
So, following the next few days, the weather was weird and slushy: a mix of snow and rain. I looked for any excuse not to ride a bike.
She didn’t care about any of this BS and rode her bike every day.
She was leading by example.
Now, a few years later, I can see the impact it had on me and my lifestyle.
I was so impressed by her because I knew the real reason, why I didn’t ride the bike, and it definitely wasn’t the weather.
I love the rain. The Snow. They make me happy and put a smile on my face.
The real reason was fear.
First of all, I was afraid to do something dumb and as a result, get smashed by a car.
But even more so, I was afraid that biking will so exhausting, that I won’t have any energy left to normally continue my day.
I was scared that it would have a negative impact on my performance at work, that it would ruin my workouts and my sex life.
And just, in general, I wasn’t looking forward to walking around all sweating like a pig.
As I know now, all of that is just another bunch of lame excuses.
I would take my bike for a ride here and there, like once a week, or even more seldom.
Have I mentioned the fact that I got hit by a mini-Van, that passed the intersection on a red light?
Or that time when a person seating in a parked car decided to just rapidly open the door without checking the mirrors.
I know, I know, that person was just trying to be a gentleman and open the door for me – aww, so sweet.
It was pretty difficult to focus on all the good things riding a bike has to offer.
I knew my fear wasn’t reasonable, but unfortunately, that didn’t change the fact that it was there.
I figured the only way to beat it was to actually face it.
Gradually and consistently.
I made the decision to start biking every day.
No exception, regardless of the weather. Regardless of anything.
At first, I used Google maps regularly, to find the bike paths. That helped a lot with conquering the fear I had.
Oh, hey, look at that – I did it. I didn’t die this time. Haha.
Little by little, as my “driving” skills improved I started to deviate from my usual path.
Every next ride was easier than before. You build up good momentum.
Eventually, I reached the tipping point where I stopped debating whether or not I should ride a bike that day. No more wasting time and energy on that.
It became a habit.
You just do it.
And the more I was doing it, the less fear I had.
Until one day, it simply wasn’t there anymore.
And that changed the whole experience.
That’s the day when I finally was able to thoroughly enjoy the ride and everything AWESOME that comes along with it.
It took me 3 months to fall in love with biking.
I have ridden my bike every day ever since.
It’s been about four years.
Waking up in the morning with a smile is easier than ever because you’re looking forward to the next bike ride.
Never mind where it takes you. You get to have your little adventures on a daily basis. It’s so cool.
It has amazing stress relieving effect that I find amusing.
You know that feeling when you wanna get some fresh air?
Well, taking a bike for a spin is a really good way to do it. That’s a good cardio exercise as well that will keep you in shape.
Take a bike for a spin THROUGH A PARK regularly.
That right there will improve your mental health and boost your energy levels.
Just a sheer amount of rejuvenation power it holds is astonishing on its own.
You wanna thoroughly enjoy the ride and scenery? Adjust your daily bike route to work or gym to go through a park and put your favorite podcast on. Simply amazing.
My all-time favorites are Joe Rogan, Jordan B. Peterson, Tim Ferris, and Sam Harris.
And you know what that does to you? You start to enjoy LIFE so much more on a daily basis. You start paying attention to the little things around you and noticing they are not so little after all.
The quality of your life will skyrocket.
Do you know what are the two most important things in life?
Your mental and physical health.
And it just so happens that riding a bike, especially through a park improves both.
I know I fell in love with biking for the wrong reasons. But I am SO happy I did. I won’t trade it for anything.
I didn’t enjoy BIKING at first. I hated it. But the thing is, I hated taking the Subway WAY MORE than I hated biking. So I stuck with it.
And at some point, about three months later I just fell in love with it. To the point where I don’t take the subway anymore. At all.
When it’s cold, snowing, raining or crazy winds, I don’t care. I love it. I ride my bike 365 days per year.
One of the most profound changes that happened because of biking is that I don’t hate any particular weather anymore(In Brooklyn).
In fact, the opposite is true. I fell in love with the rain, the snow, the fog, the sun way more than ever before. And I loved them already quite a bit.
The wind though…not so much. It’s tough!:)
But even then, it’s still a great work out though.
There is just one weather condition I cannot “stand” – it’s black ice. That is really dangerous.
Just this winter, one moment I was walking my bike across the street, the next moment I stepped on the ice I didn’t see and slipped. My right leg fell through a storm drain right up my balls.
Thank god, I was holding on to my bike, so I didn’t just entirely went in the drain. What a sucky feeling. Even though in pain, I couldn’t believe that happened to me and was laughing like crazy.
Remember the storm drain from the movie “IT”?
That’s exactly to where I slipped, and for a second there, I thought Pennywise, the clown got me. Haha. I had a really good laugh, and so did the other people that saw me laughing when I yelled: “the clown got me.”
One little adventure every day.
Give biking a try, and see maybe that is something that can improve your life for the better too.
Even better, if you have someone to do it with, you’ll get to enjoy it even more. It’s an awesome activity and an amazing way to commute with fun, joy, and it’s a good exercise.
