Zen in the art of cycling(?)

[meic]

I think that there is a sort of "enhanced state" which you can attribute to spiritualism (or something your body is pumping into your bloodstream) which in the case of running you could put down to the physical exercise but something similar happens on a motorcycle which you put down to the speed.
On a cycle you can have both the exertion and the speed together! Double enhancement.

[reohn2]

Then an extra 5% gets you there

You speak as if this Zen state is something that you achieve and remain in forever once having achieved it, I had assumed it was a condition that you achieve temporarily and are pretty certain to be bought out of when the real world interrupts you.

It's difficult to maintain,that's for sure but is achievable,though you can never achieve it......

[reohn2]

ok then that assumes it has an essence? cycling is many things - different to different people so it dont have an essence?

Maybe not for you.

.........My bike gets me to the shops and back quicker than the buses and contributes to the 150min/week exercise the govt suggests; it also allows me to explore nooks and crannies around London and elsewhere for which walking is too slow, tedious & exhausting, where mistakes cost ; also saves me money and time getting to awkward places ( eg Victoria Stn to Marylebone Stn - i could use the circle line tube with my bike but easier to just cycle bewteen them, esp when I have a load on the bike, otherwise I would have to haul it down and up stairs - lots of them)........

Is that not the essence of cycling for you then?

[reohn2]

I think that there is a sort of "enhanced state" which you can attribute to spiritualism (or something your body is pumping into your bloodstream) which in the case of running you could put down to the physical exercise but something similar happens on a motorcycle which you put down to the speed.

You could do but you and I both know it's something more than that.

On a cycle you can have both the exertion and the speed together! Double enhancement.

And lots of other stuff too

[reohn2]

Then an extra 5% gets you there

You speak as if this Zen state is something that you achieve and remain in forever once having achieved it, I had assumed it was a condition that you achieve temporarily and are pretty certain to be bought out of when the real world interrupts you.

It's difficult to maintain,that's for sure but is achievable,though you can never achieve it......

I was being a bit mischievous in my answer to you,so I'll have another go.

This Zen/centered/essence state could I suppose be something you could live in all the time and for want of a better term(though I don't think there is one)would be a state of permanent bliss or total enlightenment(I'm trying to be as as careful as possible),for my part though it's fleeting.It's also extremely satisfying though not at the time because at the time I'm unaware of it only afterward am I aware it happened at all.
I see it as a coming together of ingredients,but without there being an awareness of ingredients,when all that this is,just becomes,it's not a state of suspended animation but the opposite,a state of total awareness within whatever it is you're doing(in this case cycling)without the need of that awareness(riddles).When you look back on it you're unaware whether you were pedaling the bike or if it was pedaling you!
It ain't easy to explain,much better to experience

[hondated]

Many years ago now i read Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance who's author​ only died last week . Got to say it was a tough book to read and a bit too deep for me, but that said what I did take from it was that unlike driving a car whilst riding a motorcycle there is a synchronicity between you the rider and the machine and you become one. So I should think it's the same riding a bicycle.
The few times I have noticed this is when I have spotted touring cyclists riding fully laden bikes and their bars are equipped with everything you need much like a dashboard in a car.
Probably a case of e going into CGOAB too often but hopefully your get what I mean.
So basically Zen to me is synchronicity.

[mercalia]

ok then that assumes it has an essence? cycling is many things - different to different people so it dont have an essence?

Maybe not for you.

.........My bike gets me to the shops and back quicker than the buses and contributes to the 150min/week exercise the govt suggests; it also allows me to explore nooks and crannies around London and elsewhere for which walking is too slow, tedious & exhausting, where mistakes cost ; also saves me money and time getting to awkward places ( eg Victoria Stn to Marylebone Stn - i could use the circle line tube with my bike but easier to just cycle bewteen them, esp when I have a load on the bike, otherwise I would have to haul it down and up stairs - lots of them)........

Is that not the essence of cycling for you then?

no just the reasons why I use a bike, I dont need to bring in Zen or other far eastern mysticism or any of that stuff ( & I dont come from the north either )

[reohn2]

I'm going to have to repeat this again and again :-
The thread isn't about Zen,Zen is only a vehicle by which to introduce what is at the heart of the thread.

[reohn2]

.........So basically Zen to me is synchronicity.

I think that's a good observation and along with a couple of other posts quite 'enlightening'
However some choose to be as negative as possible without contributing anything of use...........