Moment of Clarity

Someone once told me that all you need in life is Chinese philosophy and a little VO2 max.

I am reminded of this on March 20, 2012. It was 80 degrees out today, so I brought out my beloved Moyo to take a ride. The first bike ride of the year. Ahhhh...

On a whim last night, I pulled out my ragged copy of "Siddhartha". After the last few weeks, I felt like I needed to be reminded of the tale that held me entranced in my college years - I needed to look at life a different way, I needed a mental whack in the noodle.

10 miles into my 13 mile ride, I realized that I had not had a significant thought in the previous 45 minutes. That's the magic of cycling - it changes the way you think. You forget about TPS reports, and work issues. Instead, you worry about basic survival skills - is that car going to stop at the light, or will it turn and hit me? POTHOLE!! Huff-puff, huff-puff, huff-puff.

Sometimes you see things and they don't register right away - was that guy wearing a purple felt hat??

And yet at mile 10, I realized that 10 miles had gone by, and I hardly remembered it.

And I thought back to when I first ran across the statement - all you need in life is Chinese philosophy and a little VO2 max.

Siddhartha is actually Indian philosophy - as told by a translator of Swiss German. Pedalling 14 mph over the course of 10 miles isn't necessarily VO2 max.

But realizing that you've spent the last 45 minutes in Nirvana...

Priceless.