‘The ride adjusts you. You do not adjust the ride.’ 

I truly do not know how I came up with that one. 

I have always been perplexed about understanding the difference. 

The difference between riding a Single Speed bicycle versus one with gears. 

I wanted the definitive difference. 

I was riding up a steep hill the other day. 

I was looking for a distraction. 

Something else to think about other than the grueling climb. 

This explanation hit me. 

I liked it so much that I was afraid I was going to lose it. 

I said it repeatedly in my head. 

I felt a huge sense of relief when I got home, grabbed a pen and wrote on a flyer from my mailbox. 

Phew. 

Riding a Single-Speed bike is all about embracing the road as it comes. 

Feeling every incline and decline without interference. 

Instead of shifting gears to make things easier, you are forced to sync your body and rhythm with the ride itself. 

It is a relationship of adaptation, strength, and fluid motion. 

A relationship I cherish. 

I surrender control. 

Single Speed demands my presence. 

I am not good at living with presence. 

I find that I live with the past or the future. 

Theodore N. Vail has an incredible quote: 

‘Real difficulties can be overcome; it is only the imaginary ones that are unconquerable.’ 

I tend to create a few imaginary ones. 

Okay, sorry, a little off track there. 

When I ride my Single Speed, it forces me to read the terrain rather than manipulate it. 

There is something meditative about that. 

Presence. 

I become attuned to every pedal stroke, every push against resistance, and every effortless glide downhill. 

There is no smoothing out difficulties with a shift. 

A shift strips away the purity of the ride. 

I do not adjust the difficulty, I adjust myself. 

And in doing so, the ride becomes a teacher rather than a guide. 

‘Presence’ 

Insert chalkboard emoji here. 

‘There is Another Way to Ride.’