Dharmawheels - Buddhist Bicycle Pilgrimage

Anyone who has tried dieting knows that the hardest part is curbing food intake in evening - like, just  before bed time!!! This just goes to show how much of eating is emotional. This is pretty well documented in scientific circles. I know it certainly is for me, which is why meditation helped me a lot. 

Each year as the Bicycle Pilgrimage draws near, I think back on the pilgrimages I saw as a kid growing up in Asia. My parents were nominally Christians - not very devout ones, at that. We did not participate in much religion-based activities. In other words, we didn't go much to church on Sundays. But many of our neighbors, friends and acquaintances were Buddhists and every year they go on pilgrimages. I always envied them, as they seem to be embarking on such great adventures. Preparations were made months ahead of time - setting households and businesses in order, getting new clothes and, typically Chinese, preparing huge amounts of food, brought as dana to the monasteries. I guess the pilgrimages were similar to the lunar new year, in that they were occasions for renewal. The pilgrimages provided the opportunity for a recommitment of vows, for honoring the Buddha and for paying respect to the monks and nuns who have devoted their lives to the practice. They were also social events but differed in that everyone was on 'good behavior.' Not that people were 'bad' at other times, but just that the pilgrimages engendered a heightened state of mindfulness that was difficult to maintain for most lay people living in the work-a-day world.

• The use of arm power when climbing out of saddle. The idea is to pull the bike on the handlebars with the arm that's opposite to the leg that is going down. This is like doubling the power of the downstroke. Also utilizes upper body strength. It is important to do this rhythmically so that it mimics walking or running. This is why you see the racer-types rock their bikes from side to side when they go out of saddle.