01-06-2024, 04:00 AM
A lot of interesting comments these last few posts. Sometimes I ask myself why I do ride for pleasure...so many different reasons:
1) for local day rides--looking at homes, country spaces to allow the mind to consider if we'd like to move as retirement approaches, to see if I can find a unique photo opp with bike in the picture--and I do enjoy sharing them in the forums (I ask myself why? am I in need of attention like a teen feeling better about self if people "like" the photos? I don't know, maybe...is that a terrible thing? Perhaps one simply enjoys sharing something they find beautiful). Local rides allow me to decompress, to be out in the elements. To keep whatever riding skills I may have sharp. But somehow the local day rides always feel better if combined to a trip to the store, or maybe combined with commute to work; in short, if there's a practical reason for the ride...maybe that's an indication I'm looking for a justification to ride.
2) but another reason I ride is for the mult-day trips. I absolutely love to do 3-5 day trips in Eastern Oregon, to camp, to find new routes, the views, the small towns, to take in the smells of agriculture. The solitude, the planning, the breakdowns, the 'this road or that?' decisions, the sunsets, the gas station encounters. Less frequent, but also love the long-distance rides here in the USA and through Mexico and Central America, and I hope to make it to South America one day. To explore, connect with others from different cultures, languages...I'd rather ride to Argentina--or take a boat to Australia--than do either by plane.
1) for local day rides--looking at homes, country spaces to allow the mind to consider if we'd like to move as retirement approaches, to see if I can find a unique photo opp with bike in the picture--and I do enjoy sharing them in the forums (I ask myself why? am I in need of attention like a teen feeling better about self if people "like" the photos? I don't know, maybe...is that a terrible thing? Perhaps one simply enjoys sharing something they find beautiful). Local rides allow me to decompress, to be out in the elements. To keep whatever riding skills I may have sharp. But somehow the local day rides always feel better if combined to a trip to the store, or maybe combined with commute to work; in short, if there's a practical reason for the ride...maybe that's an indication I'm looking for a justification to ride.
2) but another reason I ride is for the mult-day trips. I absolutely love to do 3-5 day trips in Eastern Oregon, to camp, to find new routes, the views, the small towns, to take in the smells of agriculture. The solitude, the planning, the breakdowns, the 'this road or that?' decisions, the sunsets, the gas station encounters. Less frequent, but also love the long-distance rides here in the USA and through Mexico and Central America, and I hope to make it to South America one day. To explore, connect with others from different cultures, languages...I'd rather ride to Argentina--or take a boat to Australia--than do either by plane.