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| Taller Middlesex Centre, ON July 2025 This photo originally shared on Instagram |
The first order of business is to get out of the city entirely, and before long, I’m rolling past horse pastures and wheat fields, the only sound in my head the curious mixture of meshing gears and duelling bands of cicadas.
The mission on these rides isn’t to chase KOM segments or bring back world-beating Strava data. In fact the mission isn’t data-related at all, because I get enough of that every other waking moment of my life.
Instead, the goal is to spin my legs smoothly, breathe in the clean air, feel the wind on my face, and read the road through my fingertips. It has nothing to do with data or speed and everything to do with simply being in the moment, on a machine that can take me anywhere my legs want to go.
Speaking of destinations, I’m tracing a large-ish rectangle on the map north of town, a fast loop to test out a new route on some new-to-me roads, and to find that elusive cadence that balances time and speed and joy. The Garmin bike computer won’t tell me when I’ve figured it out, but my soul most certainly will.
On this particularly humid morning, the air hangs thick over the farmers’ fields as the rising sun casts giant shadows across the asphalt to my left.
Somewhere over my right shoulder, a biplane rises from an unseen grass strip and slowly putters at low altitude alongside the road, almost begging me for a spirited race. I wave to it before it banks right and slowly disappears into the intensifying backlight.
Just before the turnaround point, I roll to a stop beside this particularly fetching corn field because the humidity is fogging my glasses. And while I hadn’t planned on shooting photos, I decide I can’t resist the opportunity to freeze in pixels one of the best rides I’ve had in a while.
Just as quickly I’m mashing the pedals again, feeling the frame get back up to speed as the winds begin to pick up. I click into the next gear as my legs find new strength, ready for whatever the roads throw at them beyond the next curve.
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Related:
The corn grows tall here, September 2021
Wheel meets grass, August 2021
Riding my bike to see the corn, July 2021
Bright lights among the stalks, July 2021
The orange machine heads west, July 2021
When cows become cyclists. Next Geraldo. June 2021
Hanging out with the cows, June 2021
Golden hour by the side of the road, June 2021
Early morning rides through the countryside, June 2021
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