Rules! Hear me fools: The Rules mark the beginning of the path to enlightenment, not the end. There are higher planes, expanding dimensions. Beyond the color of your bar tape exists a man, a mountain, and a bike. This is where the world begins.
Keeper Jim wrote this, reporting on his utilitarian climb of Mount Ventoux. He posts less than the rest of us, so he has less chances to sound foolish, so we consider him the wise one. He is. And he probably took a semester of philosophy as an undergraduate and reads real non-cycling books.
Jim’s words have been ringing in my ears. For better or for worse, Velominati is known for The Rules. A book publisher didn’t offer us a book contract on the collective wit of our far ranging, foul mouthed, unmoderated discussions of posts, no, it was The Rules, thanks. What started as an effort to whip a bit of discipline into the unruly hoards, is now heading toward 100 Rules. That’s a lot of Rules.
Thankfully, to alleviate some of the pressure for full compliance, some genius introduced the masturbation principle: if you are going to do it (breaking a Rule) no need to go online with the information and really, don’t send a selfie to your riding buddies either. These photos certainly don’t need to end up in your parents AOL account.
My late night stoned philosophical discussions earned me zero college credits. I know nothing about philosophy but in the great Velominati tradition, that shall not deter me from lecturing others about it.
Enlightenment, if you are open to it, can be found on the bike. It’s not found online, not even on Velominati. The word enlightenment has 1001 personal definitions. I believe if you can put your enlightenment into words, you are not enlightened. A word is a clumsy cudgel for such things. It is like real music, it’s power is so abstract, so deeply visceral, attempts to describe music in words only detract.
Get on a bike and ride, without ear-buds, without worry. Immerse in the physical work of climbing, descending, cornering, rolling across the landscape. Somehow, as Jim says, there can enlightenment there. Free your mind. One’s eyes can take in the beauty on this earth, breathe the air, smell it, hear it. Feel the sun, hear the insects, already, too many words. Climb Ventoux or ride your usual loop. For me, if that does not put me on the path to enlightenment, I don’t want it. Rebirth, heaven, hell, I can’t use them; they do not exist for me. A bike ride that gets me out of my skin, where my oxygenated brain takes in the world unfiltered, and leaves me changed, if only for a few moments, that I can use.
If The Rules get you on a bike more, then The Rules are useful. It’s all about the Ride, not The Rules.
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@Bryan Petersen
@brypeter
Hmmm. You're responding to yourself. That'll be interesting............
I feel more like I do right now than I did before!
Thanks...or bite me, depending on your comment. It's fun to hit the post button then go out for a few hours on the bike then see what sort of shiet storm I've conjured up. Straying off the reservation is what I do. I was lucky enough (and old enough) to have my teens completely formed by the Vietnam war, the Draft, and the 60s-70s fun. So too many Rules and conformity make me wary.
But looking fantastic on a bike is all I have, believe me. I can't crush people but I can try to look as sharp as possible when being dropped.
Why I love this place.
The fine nuance of the discourse. The zen-like ability to hold apparently contrary things in balance. The swearing.
@Gianni
Ah yes ---- I can relate (the old enough part for sure--touch older actually )---However, I did crush a pack of Boy Scouts last Saturday ---- but then again I was trying to make it home before dark and get into the Cabernet Sauv stash (Yeah yeah ---- I cleaned up the bike first so no rule # whatever it is crap from anyone!!!---)--------
Regards
Duntov(Bill)
@Optimiste
It says you are doomed.
@Gianni And just what criterion do you use to arrive at looking 'fantastic'? "We follow rules or people die!"
@scaler911
Like Chris and ChrisO do ...
Great stuff @Gianni. My teens also in the 60s-70s and feel fortunate for that.
Preach brother. The Buddha, and apparently Bruce Lee, said something like words are " just the finger pointing at the moon." Don't mistake the finger for the moon.
This would be better if I were high.