Found on this blog: http://www.freemantransport.com/blog/page/3/
Writer: Jason Sager Everyone crosses thresholds in life. Epiphanies and realizations are the markers on the journey. Sometimes the transitions through these are smooth and vague…we cross them before realizing they’ve even transpired. However, this one was more abrupt. Taking off my shoes as I always do, in that same camp chair in the garage that’s treated me so well after cold rides, rainy rides, dusty and hot rides, and perfect rides, I realized the inevitable. I’ve seen the world. I know nothing. And worse…I no longer was young. Its been ten years since the bike began taking me around the world. Ten years of living life through the bubble of racing, ten years that it showed me around the planet, uncovered hidden layers within myself, and exposed the beauty, the dirty, and the natural essence of ourselves and others, all from a pair of pedals and a handle bar. But seeing the world from the bike happens from more than just “on” the bike. On the bike we find ourselves, but through the bike we see everything else. The fatigue, the hunger, an insatiable appetite to get out and discover, challenge, and grow. The places and people that go with this world are the sparks, our presence in those situations, the fuel for the fire of growth. Sitting in that chair I realized, with complete brilliance, that 1999 was a decade ago. Like all men, there was a time when I was a boy, and then became a man. We always look back and see ourselves, at any given point, as having known it all, yet knowing nothing, depending on the perspective that the glimpse is coming from. The bike, and the journey that it took me on has, and hopefully will continue to, shape me as the person and man I strive to be. It shapes by contrasts, by challenges, and by opening up opportunities. Sometimes its from inside the bubble – the pedaling, riding, and the racing is all the same thing happening in different environments. It challenges me to adapt, and gives me the time, and impetus, to discover what is required. But other times, its the only constant we have when juggling and striving to contain the rest that life throws at us. The bubble of this journey provides the constant that insulates us from the outside world, while at the same time being the conduit through which we experience everything that is out there. Ten years ago, it was just me, a man then, but a boy to me now…with a bike and uncharted experiences that unfolded as I stumbled through them. Now, I’m 35, a man who is a father that’s responsible for teaching his boy. I can look back on where that bike took me, what I learned from the saddle, from the people that it allowed me to cross paths with, and look for how I can apply that journey to my current life, and look forward to where it’ll take me next, as well as the path that it holds for my little boy, who’s yet to discover the joys of two wheeled freedom. The bike is only a part of that freedom, but often, the overlap of vehicle for escape and discovery are symmetrical and happen without notice. That’s how I know its a good ride. Check out the blog, better pictures there. -Manny -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
