Just enjoy the ride

People seem to be daunted by the word "exercise" because it conjures images of routine, hard work and pain especially to the muscles. There are also the expenses, time, equipment and sheer commitment to gain the most from one’s chosen exercise – which, if you think about it, all boils down to maintaining good health.

In my youth, my preferred exercise was biking, and now that I am unable to do it because of cancer, how I miss it so! I miss it so much at times I just sit on our porch, close my eyes, and imagine the days when I would hop on a bike and ride around town, sometimes alone, mostly with a company of two or three, or sometimes as in my teen-age years, as much (if not more!) than a dozen of my neighborhood kid friends with me.

I learned how to bike at age seven. Three tries and I was off and running – that’s how much I loved it. I wrote "Santa Claus" that year and I can’t explain the thrill when I saw my first bike under the Christmas tree. We were inseparable every time I was in Nasugbu and there was no street too far away even for a little girl like me.

Biking is a good form of exercise

Countless studies have already proven the health benefits of biking to our circulatory and to our muscular systems, to our cardio and to our respiratory systems. Additionally, if we do not strain too much and are careful, we do not have to undergo too much pain while biking. Just take a deep breath, start with some form of stretching, warm-up exercises, then go! Don’t even think of the biking as exercise, just enjoy the ride.

Biking is a good time for meditation

Because our town is a stretch of fields, this gave me time to bike for longer stretches of time, too. Sometimes I’d just stop by the roadside, rest and look around, savoring the sights and sounds around me.

In my adolescent days I’d think of a lot things while biking, and it was a magical feeling to have the breeze brush or cool my face and body as I thought deep thoughts or even trivial adolescent concerns like our next volleyball games, or what would be up next in school.

Biking is a good way of making friends

Biking was a way to make and strengthen friendships for me because each time I’d ride around town I would inevitably get into little chit-chats with friends. I also made friends among the children by making them "angkas" (hitch) on my bike. Then we’d drive around the plaza, the beach, and all around town, and the surprising thing is I would feel reinvigorated rather than tired after that.

Biking is therapeutic

I cannot say enough about the therapeutic effects of biking because I myself have experienced it many times. Feeling tired or worn out? Bike. Feeling confused or need guidance? Bike. Want a change of scenery or tired of routine? Bike. Biking proved to be my one-shot quick-fix-it epinephrine in many ways.

The last time I biked was a year ago, and among my prayers is to get the chance to return to biking. I didn’t realize it then — or perhaps not as much — but now that I have been temporarily deprived of the privilege, the more I desire to hop on a bike and enjoy the thrill that comes with it once more. But still I thank the Lord that He introduced me to and gave me so many chances to enjoy biking through my lifetime.

(E-mail the author at annmondo@yahoo.com)