Perfect Sunday Morning Ride
Sundays are for relaxing, a good long drive can make the day!
Sunday is the best day to feel free and practise little self-care while going through different things. One of my favorite thing to do on Sundays is riding early in the morning, sometimes alone and sometimes with friends.
You weave your way through empty streets and stop when you reach a familiar meeting point. Suddenly, you are not alone. Over the next few minutes, one bike becomes two and two become ten, then twenty, maybe even thirty. You greet old friends and welcome new ones. Everyone is smiling because they all share a secret: this may be the best way to start the day.
The clock strikes 6:00 a.m. followed by a cacophony of clicks as feet meet their pedals. You roll away, two by two, and for a couple of precious hours, the streets are yours. Slowly, the darkness lifts. If you had any hesitation when your alarm went off, it’s gone by the time that first ray of sun pierces through. As you chase your friends up hills and into the emerging daylight, one thought resonates: it’s always worth it. Do this enough and mornings may start to feel like your two-hour vacation before work; like you’ve discovered an untapped portion of the day and breathed life into it. The morning ride quickly becomes a ritual and maybe your days start to feel incomplete without it.
Sometimes, it feels like we fight for our morning rides, with so much energy expended to dodge yet another bike-swallowing pothole, a matrix of death-trap streetcar tracks, family of jaywalking, or impatient driver in a rush to the next red light. Our morning routes are creative, piecing together a hundred different sections of road, paths and trails into one seamless whole. We find the steepest and most secluded hills, the cobbled climbs, the smoothest corners, the untraveled side streets, and the empty bike paths, linking them all together to create our local loops.
or a few short weeks each summer, morning rides are saturated with light.. It streaks through dull suburban neighborhoods and pools on cracked concrete roads – for a moment making them as beautiful as any mountain pass or coastal forest. Even as the season wanes and morning rides happen under the cover of darkness, we keep going. Sunrises are replaced by the faint glow of stars. It gets colder, so you put on thicker gloves and dig out your winter tights. Braving the elements is always easier amongst friends. Riding your bike, pedal stroke after pedal stroke, is only half the story. The other half is sharing that experience.
No matter your age, skill level or mood, on any given day of the week, there is a morning ride for you. If you live here and haven’t already tried riding in a group, find one. If you can’t find one, start one. If you’re already part of a group, welcome someone who is uncertain and help this community grow.
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