Religion

We were discussing the upcoming cycling season the other night- plans of what we're going to watch and where, who's favored for what, etc. when I saw a glaze come over my husband's eyes.  I had to laugh.  He'd tipped his hand and the truth was out.  He wasn't quite with me.  We are one of those couples.

"Cycling is like church, many attend, but few understand."  Jim Burlant said that, and while I have no idea who he is, I have to say it's definitely one of my favorite quotes.  It hits the nail squarely on the head.  Cycling is exactly like church, or more accurately, religion.  It doesn't matter which specific religion you want to equate it to.  That's not the point.  The point is, some people get it and some people don't.  Some people (like my husband, apparently) follow along and go to the events to be supportive of someone they love.  Others, often for some unknown reason, passionately hate it and all those that practice it.  They love to make fun of it and point to every slip up by some devotee as evidence that the whole thing is a load of hogwash.  Conversely, there are those that swear allegiance to it, go on TV and  cite miracles, raise money, rally the troops, and make impassioned speeches like,

"Finally, the last thing I’ll say to the people who don’t believe in cycling, the cynics and the skeptics: I'm sorry for you. I’m sorry that you can’t dream big. I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles. But this is one hell of a race. This is a great sporting event and you should stand around and believe it. You should believe in these athletes, and you should believe in these people. I'll be a fan of the Tour de France for as long as I live. And there are no secrets — this is a hard sporting event and hard work wins it. So Vive le Tour forever!"

And then, they turn out to be complete jokes- hypocrites.  Newsflash:  they're everywhere, in religion, in cycling, in life.  And, in religion, cycling, and life the trick is seeing past all the crap that the hypocrites cause and keep on believing.  It's not about the faces on the street, the voices on the television, the guys that write the books, the reformers, or the ones that make the impassioned speeches.  Eventually, they all let you down, saints and cyclists alike.  And, if you're here for them, my friend, I'm afraid you don't get it.

What matters is the relationship with the bicycle itself.  That's the core.  Without that, it's just window dressings of ritual, pomp, and circumstance.  If the bike you ride is what keeps bringing you back, you're onto something there.  It's what brought us all here to begin with, that moment of epiphany.  Maybe it was when we first took off on our own without the training wheels.  Maybe it was 30 years later on a solitary ride in the park.  It's the ride itself that reels in the believers and keeps them hooked.  There are ups and downs to it, just like anything else.  There are days when it just plain hurts.  There are days when you'd rather do anything else than look at a bicycle.  There are days when it beats you up, physically and mentally.  But, those days are the ones that strengthen the faith.  We always come back, the ever looping maxim of "If the bicycle can be ridden, then it must be ridden" playing in our minds.

If you know what I'm talking about, well, I'll look forward to seeing you at service.