Anything We Do - Teaches

After a long day on my bicycle, I feel refreshed, cleansed, purified. I feel that I have established contact with my environment and that I am at peace. On days like that I am permeated with a profound gratitude for my bicycle. Even if I did not enjoy riding, I would still do it for my peace of mind. What a wonderful tonic to be exposed to bright sunshine, drenching rain, choking dust, dripping fog, rigid air, punishing winds … Paul de Vivie, 1874.

I’ve been putting up some very amateurish videos onto YouTube about my cycling. I’ve been cycling daily for over a year and thought it time to share some wisdom, cycling gospel of David. So I just scream into the phone I pull from the back of my cycling jersey and what is, is.

Cycling, I’ve done but never at this level. Old (that’s relative) but with sustained focus. In my younger days, cycling was always just an add on to my trail/maraton, ultrarunning. I was good at it, sure. But I knew next to nothing about cycling. I just had a cheap bike but a HUGE engine. I’d climb all of the peaks of the south of France, Corsica and could just go forever. But I didn’t know a thing about what I was doing.

Now it is different, the last year I’ve been trying to figure it out, find out the key things about cycling. Running, no longer is my wife, my partner. Irreconcilable differences. So I’ve got a new girlfriend and it is keeping me busy. It’s also just a great way to keep me from throwing myself off a bridge or off our balcony - mental health. It works.

But whatever you do, you need to learn from it - that thing you are doing or into. Learn or die. So I’m learning, an immense amount about long distance cycling. From the philosophy to the false minutae. So much more to cycling than running. But yet, at bottom, it is simple. First learn the rules, then you can throw them out.

I’m thinking of doing some “Brevets”. I love the concept. No winner. Just finish in the alloted time and you are a winner. Distances are long. Just check your card “brevet” at control points and be declared a victor of the distance when you finish. I’ll keep up with reports about this new thing …

But I’m writing to share a beautiful nugget I found while on my learning journey of becoming a cyclist. It is VELOCIO’S SEVEN COMMANDMENTS for endurance cyclists, randonneurs.

Paul de Vivie was a cyclist extraordinaire and a collosus for anyone championing heroes of health, sport. He rode vast distances in France and paved the way for modern bike packing.

His 7 commandments speak to me and I think they also offer sage advice for life.

1. Make your stops short and infrequent so as not to lose your drive.

   • If you get depressed in life, keep that short then regroup, get back out there and LIVE. Life is long, your desires are short.

2. Eat lightly and often. Eat before getting hungry, drink before you are thirsty.
   - Don’t binge. Find the middle way. Keep steady in all things.

3. Never ride until you are so tired that you cannot eat or sleep.

   - Know when it is time to take one step back so you can jump 2 ahead.

4. Put on extra clothing before you’re cold, and take it off before you’re hot.
   - Let the elements of life, its turmoils and warm climes, be your friends.

5. Don’t drink wine, eat meat, or smoke—at least during the ride.
   - There is a time and a season for everything. Timing IS everything.

6. Never rush things. Ride within yourself, particularly during the first few hours of a ride when you feel strong and are tempted to force the pace.

   - Be a hedgehog, not a fox. While the fox wins the moment, you’ll win the war.

7. Never pedal out of vanity, don’t be a show-off.
   - See yourself in everyone else. That way, you’ll never be without humility.

   Turn on the CC in English.