The shadowed bicycle

Always with me
London, ON
August 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

So I’m standing over my bike just before a ride, and I catch sight of its shadow on the pavement below.

And as is often the case, I end up staring at it, wondering about this ephemeral companion of mine. It's never really far from me - either leading the way or following in my wake.

Sometimes as I spin along a country road, I'll catch a glimpse of it and smile at the notion of painting a highly temporary scene along the road, gone as quickly as it arrived.

It makes me wonder: is this shadow even real to begin with? Does its ephemeral nature make it any less real?

I'm guessing it's a lot more real than we might think. Like reflections in mirrored glass, or rainbows in the sky, or fog that paints the landscape a translucent grey in the early morning murk, they're as real as we want them to be, less a "thing" in their own right, and more something for us to play with in our minds and make very much our own.

So the bottom line, to me, at least, as I hold the handlebars and prepare to power myself far from here, is that this is very much real, very much part of the story that got me to this spot over the pavement, and the story I'm about to write with each push of the pedals.

We all leave our mark, after all. How long it hangs around for is no indicator of its worth to us. That part is entirely within our control.

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