Cycling Lessons: The Joy of Taking It Slow

The cycling community can be pretty obsessed with speed. There are lots of training plans out there designed to help you get faster and go farther. You go to the gym, work on interval training, take supplements, and focus on grams—all so you can gain an extra mile or two per hour on your bike.

Ironically, one thing I learned from cycling is the value of going slow.

I’m not talking about Zone 2 training. I’m talking about the real value of moving through your community at a pace that allows you to really see the beauty of the environment around you-to experience the simple pleasures that can’t be seen at 60MPH.

When I first started cycling, I did it for fitness. I wanted to be healthier. But as I began to ride farther and longer, one of the things I had to become comfortable with wasn’t the hours in the saddle. It was stopping. At first, I had this unwritten rule in my head that cyclists aren’t supposed to stop! Ever! This is exercise after all!

But there were so many times I wanted to stop and look at a spiderweb, a sunrise, a sunset, a creek, or a pine tree. When I’m traveling these roads in my vehicle at 55 or 60 MPH, I miss those things. I don’t notice the haze or the fog slowly lifting from the ground, or how it creates a mysterious corridor between itself and the pasture floor. But when I’m on my bike at 15 or 20 mph, I can’t miss it. And that’s a good thing. It’s a good thing to stop and take in those simple moments, or to capture them with a camera.

Going slowly in the saddle of a bicycle has taught me to appreciate life and the beauty around me a little more. Its actually helped me to see it. As they say, bicycles have no walls. Because of that, you don’t just see your surroundings—you experience them. The sights, sounds, sensations, and scents all come at you in their complete glory.

There’s a lesson here about life. When you live at 100MPH, you can miss the simple pleasures that are right next to you. When everything becomes a means to an end, you stop seeing things for what they are. You only notice the obstacle preventing you from reaching your destination or achieving your goal in the time you wanted. But when you slow down, its then you begin to notice. There are actually simple pleasures staring you in the face. You enjoy a simple meal, the warmth of easy conversation, the pleasantness of your hand in someone else’s. Perhaps you take the time to grow something, to create something, or to take pride in someone else’s creation.

So, when you watch that next YouTube video promising an extra MPH if you switch to carbon fiber water bottles, ask yourself if its worth it. Or could those heavier water bottles that make you ride a little slower actually be doing you a favor? Hint-its the latter.