The beauty pictured above is my Schwinn beach cruiser her name is Blue Ivy. Yes I named my bicycle *don’t judge me*. I got her in the spring in anticipation of the summer and I haven’t regretted it. I bike often around my neighborhood and I have had to learn the rules of the road as a biker. You can still catch me riding dirty in these mean streets *Que Chamillionaire -Ridin’ Dirty*. The rules of the road can definitely apply to the rules of life. Learning road rules has re-affirmed some life-lessons for me. These lessons are:
1. Just Do It! – This applies to life because we all have opportunities that we create excuses for and let pass by, challenge yourself the next time you want to say no, get out there and just do it!
2. There’s a time and a place for everything – No more turning, stopping, and signaling when I am not suppose too. It also reminds me to be PRESENT and be mindful of my environment at all times.
3. Patience is truly virtue – I’m not the fastest bike on the road, like i mentioned earlier I have a beach cruiser. So I’ve learned to be patient with myself, my bike and those who try to cut ahead of me. Lol. Every time I go riding I listening to Chill music i.e Frank Ocean’s Channel Orange and Nostalgia, Ultra, Coldplay’s Ghost stories, Solange’s True EP, and the list goes on. No riding around listening to MIGOS now.. lol I don’t want to get hit. I also bike the lake so the scenery is quite breath taking and relaxing.
4. Always look at both sides of the road before you proceed – I’m riding a bicycle so sometimes I might fall into someone’s blind spot. As in life, I have to be mindful of others so they can be mindful of me.
5. Be polite to the people who cross your path – I went to the gas station to put air in my tires and this random guy helped because I clearly didn’t know what I was doing. I like to think that’s some of my good karma in play.
6. It is not the destination, its the ride – I live around a lot of lakes and they are many ways to get to each one. I sometimes stress that one path is faster and aim to go to the faster route next time. I get so worked up that I don’t the beautiful scenery and nice weather. So now when I find myself on a longer route to my destination I just enjoy the ride!! I know I’ll get there eventually.
7. What you put into it is what you’ll get out – This can be applied to any aspects of life. In Biking, it’s what you want that you’ll get from it. Biking is a stress reliever for me; it helps me take my mind off the stressors of my day. So I might get on my bike with stress but I expect to get off with some of that stress being elevated. I try not to add-on to my stress by taking offense to the things that happen while I’m biking i.e people honking, cutting me off etc. I try to let it go. *keyword is try* I’m a work in progress.
These are some epiphanies that come to mind when I ride my bike and I thought I’d share them. If you have a bike as well, enjoy the ride while you can. Especially if you are like me and only ride in the summer.
-xoTLO