Life as a Bike Ride
The more I think about that, the more powerful and human a message I find it to be. Maybe because I’m on this trip I have to think of cycling as a metaphor, but it’s clear to me that Samuel Beckett understood bonking: I can’t go on, I can’t go on, I can’t go on, I’ll go on.
"Optimally, one would like an amiably undulating, curvy, deserted, newly paved road through a scintillating landscape with a pleasant, cool tail wind.
Never happens. . . .
This is a process I’ve gone through before on this trip and on previous ones, and it’s instructive in the same way every time, drumming the basic philosophy of long-distance cycling into my head: Moving forward is the cure for all ills. Keep pedaling. The more I think about that, the more powerful and human a message I find it to be. Maybe because I’m on this trip I have to think of cycling as a metaphor, but it’s clear to me that Samuel Beckett understood bonking: I can’t go on, I can’t go on, I can’t go on, I’ll go on.
So slap me if I’m getting too serious. In Pomeroy I had my second milkshake of the day. I don’t believe that I’ve ever had two milkshakes in one day in my life. There’s another landmark for you. How tragic could any enterprise be that requires two milkshakes?"
Plus I love all of the advice he's received and appended -- especially the suggestion that he would be better served with a $14,000 custom bike. Wouldn't we all?
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