“What’s the best exercise?” the old joke goes. “The one you do!” is the answer. And of course, this applies to just about anything…diets, resolutions, etc.

I’ve discovered the truth of this oldie with my new Electra Amsterdam bicycle, of which I have written before. I ride this bike everywhere….to the store, the post office, and even to client meetings when they are within a reasonable riding range (within 30 minutes). There’s no need for any preparation…no special Lycra shorts, biking shoes, gloves, etc. Just throw on the helmet and out the door. Eliminating these barriers to riding has made it easier to integrate the bike into my daily living rather than using it for “exercise”. Sure, it weighs a ton and going up long hills is a bitch; and riding upright in a headwind is a special experience. On the other hand, as a result of these challenges, every ride is also that much more exercise than riding my sleek, smooth-shifting road or mountain uber-bikes. And, damn, its also fun! Fun, not in an adult-achievement way, but in a kid’s first discovery of freedom way; like when my buddy Nick and I, both poor as church-mice, would spend our Summers riding the neighborhood all day long, playing “chicken” by ramming each other’s bikes like Medieval jousters, and taking free swims at the Police Training Center on Wednesdays and Fridays from 1-3 PM.

There’s an old Zen poem that I can’t remember verbaitim, but it goes something like this:

“When I was a child, water was water, clouds were clouds, and earth was earth”.

“As I grew up and acquired knowledge, water was no longer water, clouds were no longer clouds, and earth was no longer earth”.

“Now that I am old, water is once again water, clouds are once again clouds, and earth is once again earth”.