On the Road Again – Or, at Least, the Bike Path

It is part of my new “get fit” routine. Biking the Cape Cod Canal bike trail. It has been tough going, but I seem have worked up to ten-mile sessions, which on a fat tire bike gives me a good workout, even with its fifteen gears.

It may be making me physically fit, or fitter, though I think the jury is still out on that. Weight loss, maybe a bit; cardiovascular health, how do you tell?; lower body strength, maybe yes.

But what this new fitness regime has done for me is to make me more mentally and spiritually alive, of that I have no doubt. Mentally, I know a good ride clears out the cobwebs in a remarkable effective fashion. Maybe it is the ever-changing views along the twisting canal, the light off the water, the wind rippling the surface, the nods to roller-bladers and walkers and fishermen with their coolers and rods and bikes outfitted with white fishing rod holders banded to the rear fender. Maybe it is the concentration required to keep on pumping into a strong headwind. Maybe it is just being away from church and family responsibilities for a set period. All I know is that I come back physically exhausted, but mentally refreshed.

But what has been surprising to me has been how these rides have fed my spirit. I have an IPod, so slip the tiny earplugs in, select from one of my custom playlists (New Wave, Alternative Rock, Bruce, Lyle, Rachmaninoff or Beethoven), set my front wheel towards Bourne, and soon find a different kind of spiritual renewal. My mind wanders where it will, my legs pump to the beat, my lungs fill with air and then release it only to begin the cycle again, the sun shines and the wind blows and a sense of peace comes,

something that might even be characterized as prayer,

if only we could let go of rigid ideas of what form prayer must take to be prayer.