Gravel (U)pdate

I felt my lungs inflate with the onrush of scenery—air, mountains, trees, people. I thought, “This is what it is to be happy”-

Mountains?!? Who said anything about mountains? Especially here in good ole’ flat Nebraska.

Is having to explain what you love to others tearing away the fabric of your happiness – your being, like enjoying a leisurely 150+ gravel bike ride around Lincoln, Nebraska? Or a quaint 100k Trail Run through Breckenridge, Colorado? Or even meditating and walking?

Often we are asked to explain the reasoning for our choices, let’s be fully open with one another this morning shall we: It’s easier to blog and talk about our decisions at a logical and snarky level, “Why do you like cycling on Gravel Roads?” I enjoy being outdoors in a non competitive environment, enjoying the company of other folks that are there for very similar reasons…

There’s a catch to throwing out the “easy – polished” answer. Doing so, over and over every time we meet like-minded folks erodes our ability to formulate a decision based on “emotion” or a “gut feeling.” These emotions are rather hard to put into words and to explain to someone looking at you in the eye, wondering why you look like a damn mess, covered head to toe with dirt, sweat, snot dripping out your nose and a ridiculously shaped tan line (cyclists know what these look like).

“I like ultra distance gravel rides because they connect and ground me to the earth, they make me feel whole. They allow me to tune into myself, listening attentively, no distractions, just myself – on my single speed bike, chugging along.”

Enjoy the pics folks as this ride was one of only a few where I carry a phone, let alone a camera thing!

Notes:

One of the main undercurrents that keeps this CultFit machine moving along is that we often ruin our enjoyment of the simple pleasures in our lives due to the fact we try to rationalize, at every turn, why we like doing what we do or we want to prove to ourselves why our decisions are correct and superior to others.

The only “thing” that matter folks? Is that we like “whatever” because we like it, period.