Wheels

Date: Mar 9 Fri
Mileage: 16 (Bleriot)
March mileage: 74
Year to date: 514

Hombre, what a great ride! A 5-Star ride, and all in only 16 miles. The weather has turned decidedly springish today, with temps at or near 70F. How can you not love the first shorts-only ride of the season and especially with a warming, invigorating sun bathing you with spring sunshine? I chose the Bleriot with its Longflap Nelson for an errand trip to Goodwill. I've had a bag of old shirts and shorts in my bathroom for months, so today's journey was a brief, spectacular one to dump those off. What was so great about such a trip was how pleasant it was without the trappings of mega-miles or panoramic vistas. It is what it was, a city errand trip on a great bike in great weather.

On my trip today I got to thinking of the Dharma Wheel. It is a visual representation of the Buddha's primary teachings. In the center, the a hub representing mediation practices. There are 8 spokes, each a tenet of the 8-Fold Path (Right View, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Concentration, Right Mindfulness). The rim, I think, represents Mindfulness.
I can't help but like this symbol, that of the wheel. For me it symbolizes both my interest in "cleaning up my act", and also the pleasure and freedom in the wheels turning down the road. If one is the freedom of my spirit, then the other is the freedom of body. I'm sure you could shoot holes in that metaphor, but who cares? It's mine and I like it. Just as existence and life are ever-turning, we on our bikes are ever turning, but turning in a good way, down the open road.

It also connects with a Buddhist metaphor of the journey that is life, the "Buddhist Path". The first is that of a path that has a start and an end. You walk down the path in order to arrive at your destination. For Buddhist, this would be achieving Nirvana/Nibbana. For Christians, yours is the entry into Heaven. The other approach is the Path as an ongoing journey. It's stopping and smelling the flowers, seeing the sunset, viewing wildlife or finding interesting trees along the way. Mindfulness teaches to be in the moment. For cyclists these two metaphors obviously apply. We leave a site and make an effort to arrive elsewhere, a coffee shop, bakery, another town or just want to complete the loop. We also want to stop or slow down and see what's in our view, our perspective. Reading blogs such as Doug's, Pete's, Jim's, or Kent's have all made me want to slow down more and realize what is along the journey instead of just getting from A to B, hammer hammer hammer. The Path can have many positive impacts if you allow yourself to venture down it.