My Black Horse

I'm not a "real" cyclist in the estimation of most cyclists.  By this I mean I don't shave my legs or log any significant mileage.  I own a bike I bought back in 2000 (or was it 2001?)  There is something thoroughly satisfying about the thought of cycling - even more than cycling itself.  My daughter loves horses.  I love bicycles.  I love to look at bicycles.  I love to see them still and I love to see them moving.  Not just any old bicycles, but well-maintained, nearly-silent bicycles.  Classic or modern, I enjoy them all.  Yes, they are eye-candy.  When I mount my glossy black carbon Kestrel it is like my horse, my steed.  It is the Black Stallion to me.  In this way, my daughter and I both share a love of horses and of riding.

Riding a bicycle "stallion" is more easily accomplished than riding a real horse though.  It is less expensive and more accessible.  Today I will mount my Kestrel 200 sci road bike and ride it, mostly in decidedly un-scenic areas.  However, it is the joy of movement and the pleasure/pain of exertion that I treasure.  There is also something intoxicating about wheels and circles.  Cranks, axles, wheels, and all other spinning circular things.  Thank Goodness for the invention of the wheel!  My piston-like legs can join with the circular tendencies of my bike and produce the Ride.  In fact, my piston-like legs even adopt a circular, spinning, tendency themselves.  I try more and more to become "one" with the bike - a goal that necessarily involves the elusive perfect pedal stroke.

Perhaps I will eventually make more of my riding than my current recreational 2x/week rides.  I don't know.  Track cycling is an attractive thought...and it wouldn't involve the cyclist's enemy - motor vehicles and their drivers!  The interaction between rider and bike is closer as well.  No freewheel, no brakes, one gear.  If the bike is moving, your legs are moving!  Perhaps I will whet my appetite with more trips to the Hellyer Velodrome to watch the races.  For now, I'm off to the roads to ride my beautiful carbon fiber Kestrel steed.