The shape of goodness is the shape of life sometimes lived in the cold and fear of falling. My cycling season lasts for as long as the weather makes it (im)possible.
Cycling is my absolute passion. I do not care too much about anything else, with the exception of what I do which has many layers of passion, and roller-skating. I recite incantations for the weather to stay fine until late December. Come to think, for 4 or 5 years we haven’t had snow in Bucharest for Christmas. And I bought my bike 5 years ago. Before, I was a roller-skater. I decided to switch the hat the moment a biker screamed at me pointing that the bike lane was for cyclists. And this is how I changed “denomination”.
The Japanese have a blooming chart for the cherry trees. I have a blooming chart for cycling after lilacs. Every spring day starts and ends with the promise of a more beautiful and balmier day. Spring gives freedom and courage to watch the world from a cocoon of warmth and kindness. When snow is beating at the windows, I feel beaten and frozen. To jump-start my optimism, the beginning of the New Year is the beginning of Waiting for the Spring Festival. Also I get to “fight snow with snow” by tricking and jinxing Winter on my skis…
Cycling is an adventure…Everything can happen. Only this year I have been caught in the rain twice. I was soaked, thinking that if I sped, as usual, I got home in a jiffy. Didn’t happen, my breaks did not catch and I was not able to see anything with the rain in my eyes. I was attacked by dogs (of war), hit my head in branches…Met wonderful people…Saw the world raw and rough on terrible sunsets…Had my face cut by the wind…Shed tears of endearment when an icicle got in my eyes and stayed, for a while…At all costs in tears and shivers, it is marvelous closed circle goodness.
From cycling in the cold to breathing in the roar on two of the most beautiful days of 2017 – Christmas day and one folstitia-fire Spring day:
Awesome lookin bike Iulia ☺️
Indeed, my bike is a beauty 🙂
☺️
As you probably know, cycling has become a British passion since Bradley Wiggins won the Tour de France and particularly so in Yorkshire where we now have the Tour de Yorkshire, which passes through or close to our village. Hundreds of thousand of people line the route each event now. And, we have the world champion women’s cyclist from 3 miles down the road, the small Wharfe valley town of Otley. Less well known is the pioneer of women’s cycling, We have who has been described as the ‘greatest woman cyclist of all time’, Beryl Burton, from Morley, just a short distance away. She still holds the world record for the 12 hour time trial I believe – something like 277 miles. So you’d be in good company if ever you brought your bike over here (if not we could find you one for sure).
Of course it’s a very different topography to București, having many crippling climbs, some very close to here.
Thank you! I am aware of this 🙂 and also of the fact that cycling is an European long lasting craze and passion. Recently I have read in an article that the mayor of one city (I think it is Paris) dreams and sets things in motion for the city to have 1400 km of bike lanes by 2020. OMG! This is my dream. To find a bike lane to take me to a meaningful place and another bike lane to another place and so on…
Thank you for the idea. It is almost impossible to bring my bike there, it is too big, I cannot put her in the trunk even if I take out the front wheel. But the idea is wonderful. I like climbs and slopes. As I child I used to cycle in the forest 🙂
your bike and you are a beauty!
Thank you! 🙂
Excuse my French here, but how fucking cool is that! I love how you immerse yourself in your passion for cycling. I just do. In my first incarnation as a runner, I didn’t really understand this. I ran because I could, because I was decent at it and because it was a part of my regimen. Now, as a man of a certain (older) age, I value running. It is a passion. Am I great at it? Heavens no, but I am in love with it just the same.
Love this post.
Thank you very much! 🙂
Indeed, passion makes things limitless. I always value people who do what I cannot do (I cannot run) or are willing to suffer a little to grasp the green in the rainbow 🙂 This is how I feel when I cycle.
I love it that you loved it. 🙂
Really cool!
Thank you!
Grt!
Thank you!
Oh dear! You must really like cycling to endure all of those traumatic events you’ve named at the end!
Thank you! I love cycling and everything about it. These are laughable events 🙂 They come with the territory. I have fallen worse with my roller-skates.
As a change from words and poetry topics, I enjoyed this post a lot, Iulia. I’m pretty sure that cycling is more lovely in such beautiful areas. I really liked the beauty of the area you’re cycling in and the beauty of the cyclist herself! 😉
Thank you very much, dear Mohamad 🙂 The beauty of your words is only surpassed by your kindness.
Such a lovely description of your biking passion and also the trials and tribulations one can have on occassion of dogs and unfair weather. I used a bike in Germany and Korea to get around and life was slower and the countryside more beautiful. I hope you have endless days of biking enjoyment.
Thank you very much! I will! 🙂
That’s halatz a cycling Iulia! Sorry, that’s not the best pun is it? But I just wanted to be different …:) Thanks for sharing your passion with us.
Just one of your funniest puns, dear Chevvy. I love love your humor! 🙂 Only that when I invented it, a long, long time ago, I was known under a different name: giraffe-a-cycling Iulia.
PS: I love love to laugh at myself. :)))))
Thank you, dear Chevvy!
Thank you for getting my humour – I was afraid you would not know what I was talking about!!! It’s good to have a lots of laughs (halatz of laughs) with you dear Iulia. :))))
Love, laughs and rainbows, dear Chevvy! 💜💜
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