Where is the Zen?

Ok, so I have taken many rides now on my single speed/fixed gear and I just don’t get it. All fixed gear riders eventually hear how riding fixed transcends any other bike experience they may have ever had. This is usually accompanied by the remark that goes: “It’s a Zen thing, dude… you’re at one with the bike and the road and traffic…”

Well I am here to say there is no Zen, it just does not exist! Even by definition SS/FG riding is anything but Zen. Zen is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that asserts that enlightenment can be attained through meditation, self-contemplation, and intuition rather than through faith and devotion and that is practiced mainly in China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. Or to put it more succinctly Zen preaches that enlightenment can be attained through direct intuitive insight.

SS/FG riding is far from insightful, especially riding in traffic. You certainly can’t go riding along blissfully unaware of your surroundings, or meditating or contemplating your navel. It requires attention, awareness of everything around you. In many ways it is simply easier to ride a geared bike.

Now don’t get me wrong, I actually enjoy riding my SS/FG, it is a different experience than riding on or off road. There is the simplicity of not having to shift. There is the spinning when the speed picks up. There is the need to grind it out over the top of a climb. But is it really Zen like? Ugh, no. Do I reach nirvana by riding my SS/FG? Hardly! Does anyone else reach these states of inner consciousness? I really doubt they do, they might say they do, but I just don’t believe them.

Come on folks, cycling is not a religion, where we pray before the god Shimangolo. Cycling is not a way of life. It is an activity, a choice we make on how we want to spend our time. It is exercise, a means to stay healthy, a recreation.

I for one truly believe that activity, whether is happens to be cycling or not, can change your life. But let’s keep some perspective, cycling should not be your life! It’s fun, it’s good for you and the environment, it’ just not “a Zen thing, dude. I’m not saying. I’m just saying. That is all. Later.”