The ABC’s of Being a Wild Thing

This is the time of year when people think about and state their intention for change. They’re going to be healthier or be kinder or be an iron woman. This year I’m going to be a Wild Thing. And I invite anyone who wants to to join me.

I remember when I started cycling. I felt scared and excited. I was awkward and slow. I couldn’t talk and pedal at the same time. OK, I still might have trouble with that last thing, especially if I’m trying to speak Italian. The thing is, we all start at the beginning. We don’t hit the road our first time out as a fully developed and functional “cyclist”. In fact, your goal may be completely different from anyone else’s. Some folks want to be a competitor. Some seek companionship. Others just want to be healthier. The common denominator, regardless of the goal, is that we have chosen the bicycle as the way to reach that goal.

We are all, brand new rider or experienced cyclist, in the process of becoming. Becoming exactly what might be very individual, but there are qualities that every one of us should share.

To be a Wild Thing, I encourage you to be audacious, or in Italian Ti incoraggio ad essere audace. Audacity, put simply, is the willingness to take bold risks. For me, having already been a rider for 6 years, a bold risk last year was riding a 300km “timed recreational ride” in a single day. This year I’ll do it again as a companion to a friend who has audaciously decided to challenge herself with this ride.

But that’s my audacious move. Yours may be to start riding, or to segue from city bike riding to road bike or mountain biking. You may choose to embrace Lyrcra…well, put more correctly, you may choose to be embraced by Lycra. That is definitely an audacious move that not every person can feel comfortable doing, but absolutely changes the way you ride.

Audacity is you stepping outside your comfort zone to discover who you are and what you can become, sometimes, but not always with the support of friends and family. To be audacious is to be aware of the risks and the potential for failure, and doing it anyway.

Be an Audacious Wild Thing.

Posted on by Michele Karlsson 0

The who, what, and why of Wild Things

Welcome to Wild Things Women’s Cycling Initiative. I’m sure you have questions. Why an initiative? Why in Tuscany? Why “women’s” what’s wrong with men? Aside from the other obvious ones like how, where and when….I’ll answer them as best I can and in those answers I hope you’ll find a reason to join or support the group.

Wild Things will be a community of women cyclists dedicated to the idea that any woman can ride, firm in the faith that by building a community of women cyclists we can lift up the next generation of riders while continuing to challenge experienced riders, staying strong in the knowledge that by riding together we are a force to be reckoned with.

To be clear, at this moment in time it’s just me. I’m a dreamer who has made more than one dream come true, in fact this isn’t the craziest thing I’ve done. The group will surely grow slowly and will face any number of challenges along the way but I can give you a couple of promises right away.

I will not be referring to the group (me) in the Royal “we” until there are several members besides myself. I’m sure that marketing-wise maintaining the illusion that there is a group always at the ready, and that they are numerous enough to offer multiple ride days and challenge levels would be smart. But sooner rather than later that illusion would be shattered and any good will I may have built with individual riders will have been lost. I want to create a community that will outlast me and that community can’t afford to have grandiose statements that can’t be delivered on. I may say that Wild Things will be having a ride on such and such a day and we will meet at X o’clock, but that particular “we” is the wish that someone would join me and truly make us, we.

While there will be regular scheduled rides, almost any day (outside of the high tourist season) will see me riding and I would love if someone would just send me a quick message and say that they’d like to ride even though it’s not a group ride day. I would also hope that as others join the group they will send out an “I’m riding today, anyone want to join me?” message, and that there will be someone to answer that call.

We’ll learn to ride solo and in a group. These are two completely different kinds of riding, each with their own charm, responsibilities, and difficulties. Knowing the difference makes you safer and happier on the road. We’ll learn about our bikes, finding out how they work and how we can keep them working. We’ll learn about our own bodies as well. How hard we can push them, how to keep them fed and strong, and how to build the mental strength to keep riding even on those days when quitting seems right. We’ll brain storm ways to add cycling to to days already filled to the brim with work and family.

Most of all we’ll build friendships that make us better on and off the bike.

Please join me.

Posted on by Michele Karlsson 0

Why Ride?

Right? Why?

This is usually the non-cyclist’s first question. It’s not a bad question. It’s just that it’s a question that I can’t answer for you. We all have different reasons why we decide to take that first intoxicating (or excruciating) ride on a bike. It can be entirely practical: this would be an easier way for you get around because some cities simply don’t work for cars. It could be completely reacreational: it’s a fantastic way to move your body with low impact and good aerobic benefits. You could be one of those driven individuals who love to compete every moment of every day: cycling offers sooo many opportunities to compete against others or even yourself. You could be simply caving to peer pressure: all the really cool people you know ride so of course you want to ride as well.

In 2014 I had heard the question enough times that I decided to write about it. So below you have my personal reasons for getting on a bike. The reason I stay on the bike? Pretty much the same reasons as 5 years ago, with the knowledge that it’s also my livelihood.

Spend a day, or a week, or a month giving cycling a try. Let me know if your experience is the same as mine, or radically different. I expect there are as many different how I started cycling stories as there are cyclists.

2014

Some people think it’s great that I started riding a road bike at the tender age of 52. Probably a lot more are wondering why. It’s a reasonable question. It’s not easy to ride in the rolling hills of Tuscany. If I really, really get into it it could become expensive. It’s time consuming. It’s not convenient.

I could give you reasons that you’d believe but that would be lies. For instance, I could tell you that I do it because it’s healthy and will keep me younger and stronger longer than sitting around doing nothing. Those facts are true, but that’s not the reason I started. I could tell you that I started so that I could spend more time with my husband (the Cyclist) and have a better understanding of this sport that he is so passionate about. This would be only half true. I understand passion and don’t really need to participate to understand. We spend a little more time together riding, but not every ride so the total gain isn’t that big. I could tell you that I enjoy the thrill of competition and pushing my body to it’s limits. Baldfaced lie. I may be the only person on the road who rides just for fun…and the coffee and pastry. Personal bests, Queen of the hill, these things don’t matter to me. In fact, I barely keep track of how much I ride. My only goal is to arrive.

The absolute, honest to gosh truth is that for me riding represents freedom.

Imagine you didn’t have a car. Don’t panic! I said imagine. Your car is safely parked wherever you left it, just waiting for you climb in and go anywhere your little heart desires. But what if you didn’t have it? Your life would change significantly, even in a place where buses and trains were abundant.

Everything you do would be determined by how far you can walk. How much you can carry. How long it takes to walk there. If you take a bus, the schedule and the driver’s ability to actually maintain the schedule determine just how much you can do in a day. Your view of your surroundings is always seen through a cloud of dirty windows or your own sweaty brow and obscured by tall buildings.

Now imagine getting on a bike and riding out of town, something you’ve only been able to do on a train or bus, and those times are few and far between. Do you know what’s out there?

Every vista is like a National Geographic spread. Tiny roads through little villages. Quaint churches clinging to the sides of mountains. Water coming out of fountains dating from last week or last century, or even older. The heart of wine country, where vines strectch out in every direction and olive trees dot the mountainsides all the way to the horizon. Sheep with actual bells around their necks. And you truly see all this because you’re not zooming along at 70 km/hr on your way to stop #3 of 5 for the day.

It’s not just the spectacular views. It’s also the joy of feeling, just for a little bit, like flying. The absolute joy of flying along the road (at the astonishing rate of 15 km/hr) with the wind in your face is nothing short of spectacular. If there is such a thing as reincarnation, I was a dog in the back of a pick up or a greyhound. You know, one of those dogs that runs just for the sheer joy of running. But it’s more than this too.

The country is filled with aromas. Not just the ones we usually associate with country living. You don’t just see the lavender along the road, you smell it. The smell of fresh cut grass or hay, the humidity of the river as it winds next to the road, the heavy aroma of roses along the walls, the scent of fresh cut wood (and the accompanying smell of the chain saw which always makes me think of a boat on a lake), the smoke from someones burning brush pile, the sweet/sour smell of coffee and pastry wafting out the door of a cafe bar, the smell of grilling meat just as your body decides it’s not just hungry, it’s hungry. 

A ride in the country is experienced with all my senses. I’m already amazed and inspired by the place I live in, but when I ride I feel alive to the very tips of my fingers and toes and to the deepest part of my soul. All I have to do is get on the bike and pedal. This is why I ride.

Posted on by Michele Karlsson