:yoga off the mat:

lately i’ve been riding my bike. i think i shall call her trudy.

really, she’s a lovely bike. a bit old and rusted, but character in all the right places; like the little rainbow heart sticker, the slightly bent basket and two tires that don’t completely match. oh, and she’s pink!

“trudy” was a purchase when i first moved back to california from vegas almost 4 years ago. a random guy i met when i was in europe, that was from seattle, but moved to OC, showed me this little used bike shop in newport beach and took me to find a gem. that she is.

i can’t honestly say that she’s been a huge part of my life these past 4 years. i haven’t a history of cycling. honestly, it makes my crotch hurt and makes my quads have to work hard. this coming from someone who does yoga and ran a marathon. alas, cycling just isn’t my true love.

BUT, since our move, i have made it a bit more of a priority. we are so much closer to things that i frequent, like the sunday farmers market, my yoga studio, and other random stores in hillcrest, that it seems silly to drive less than a mile when i have an able body AND a lovely bike!

i wasn’t sure how i would like this new system. i thought maybe i’d get too tired, or scared of passing cars, or simply lazy. but now i relish those 5 minutes that it takes to ride up to yoga, lock my bike and walk in. i even relish getting up on my toes and slowly pushing my way up the small hill on cleveland towards home. my quads do hurt, but it’s a good burn.

my favorite ride, though, is on sunday. the last 2 sundays i have left just before 9 am to ride down the street to the dmv parking lot where the farmers’ market is. it’s just me and trudy and a few bucks. i load my trader joe’s bag with all the ripe deliciousness of california, and then hop on my bike for the short trek back up the hill. the ride home is so much sweeter. 2 weeks ago i reached into my bag of goodies for some raw arugula. i love that stuff. there’s just something about being alone on a bike, with a warm spring wind whipping in your ears, eating a raw green that says “freedom”. yesterday i had fresh kumquats, one of my guilty pleasures. i love the way the tart skin pops in your mouth as you bite down, and how it finishes clean and sweet on my tongue. i could eat them like candy. i think jared thought i was a little nuts because they are so sour at first. but they are the perfect snack, especially while riding home.

when i was in ireland 5 years ago, i rented a bike on the island of inishmore. i spent one night there towards the end of my 3 month european adventure. it was probably the most perfect day i have ever seen in my 3 trips to ireland; the kind of day that makes you want to move there. i was told to rent a bike to get around this sort of archaic island, where the locals still use a horse and trailer to get stuff around. you can ride for what seems like endless miles of tiny roads lined with ancient stone walls. and then you arrive at Dun Aengus, this old fort built on the sheer cliffs of the western side of the island. i don’t have my photos uploaded, but here is someone else’s:

truly stunning.

as i rode my bike all alone through those windy, hilly roads, i had that exact same feeling of freedom, the only sound being that of a nearly deafening wind against my ear drums. at one point, realizing this near perfect moment that could probably never be equaled, i slowly let go of the handle bars and reached my arms out like wings as the bike soared along. yes, it was like a cheesy movie moment. but that’s why they shoot cheesy movie moments-because we can all sense what the feeling must be like.

it’s a bit different in san diego. there’s other bikers, lots of cars, lights, distractions. it’d be a bit difficult for trudy and i to let go like that in the middle of hillcrest. but i think about it every time we set out together into the morning sun. i guess, in a way, riding trudy is how i can let my mind go (if nothing else) and return to that perfect place, on that perfect day and feel a little bit of what utter peace must be like.

thanks, trudy