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the art of cycling; philosophy, meaning and a life on two wheels - james hibbard. quercus publishing hardback 305pp £14.99

the art of cycling - james hibberd

"A Zen teacher saw five of his students returning from the market, riding their bicycles. When they arrived at the monastery and had dismounted, the teacher asked the students, 'Why are you riding your bicycles?' The first student replied, 'The bicycle is carrying this sack of potatoes. I am glad that I do not have to carry them on my back!' The teacher praised the first student. 'You are a smart boy! When you grow old, you will not walk hunched over like I do.'
The second student replied, 'I love to watch the trees and fields pass by as I roll down the path!' The teacher commended the second student, 'Your eyes are open, and you see the world.' The third student replied, 'When I ride my bicycle, I am content to chant nam myoho renge kyo.' The teacher gave his praise to the third student, 'Your mind will roll with the ease of a newly trued wheel.'
The fourth student replied, 'Riding my bicycle, I live in harmony with all sentient beings.' The teacher was pleased and said to the fourth student, 'You are riding on the golden path of non-harming.' The fifth student replied, 'I ride my bicycle to ride my bicycle.' The teacher sat at the feet of the fifth student and said, 'I am your student."

-Zen proverb

there is, i believe, a decent argument for viewing the bicycle in a manner not normally accorded such a masterful invention. walking meditation (kinhin) as practised within several forms of buddhism, generally takes the form of periods of walking interspersed with occasions of sitting meditation. though it's perhaps stretching credibility a tad further than it wants to be stretched, there's surely a case for viewing this as a means of fartlek, where bursts of activity are mediated by concomitant periods of rest. the end result, so i'm assured, is improved levels of fitness.

practising kinhin on the bicycle would, logically, strengthen one's resolve and mindfulness, if undertaken with no concern for the bicycle as a means of transport, of exercise or of thrashing your compatriots at the 30mph sign outside bruichladdich village. in other words, whether you think steel to be real, or carbon to be the be all and end all, it is being in and of the moment, excluding all thoughts of cycling in the way to which we have become accustomed, that might easily equate to the propounded benefits of walking meditation.

i have, i confess, attempted to achieve this state on many an occasion. assuming the parcours to consist of a quiet, single track road, with nary an impending distraction in sight, tendencies to simply concentrate on the act of pedalling, with no thought for which particular gear would be a judicious choice, or whether the chain needs oiled. i grant you, it's not a mental state that's easy to achieve, at least not for very long, before some distraction bursts the bubble. attempts to resolve the world's great philosophical problems will simply have to wait.

however, i am but a mere apprentice in such matters, especially when compared to the writings of james hibbard. his 'the art of cycling', published tomorrow, has already drawn comparisons with 'zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance', while there's no denying that his background as a professional cyclist and philosophy graduate, better qualifies him to analyse such matters of the mind. fans of douglas adams' 'the hitch hiker's guide to the galaxy' might be inclined to proffer '42' in answer to the book's subtitle - 'philosophy, meaning and a life on two wheels' - and it's possible that they might be on the right track.

however, at the risk of requiring a spoiler alert, i'd be inclined to presage my review by pointing out that this is a book that i feel is long overdue. my cycling bookshelf is full to overflowing with volumes relating the lives of the greats, stories of races won, lost and endured, editions of superb photography, fitness manuals and the means of maintaining the velocipede in tip top condition. missing from all of the above, is a moment of quietude and reflective examination of that which we hold so dear.

james hibberd has now written that very book.

following a period as a professional, hibberd became disillusioned with the sport. "I'd decided that the sport I'd once loved beyond reason was rotten to the core." but following a decade of abstention, "Cycling has since regained a different sort of luster - harder won and more complex. With the perspective afforded by the passage of time, I'm able to see not just its shortcomings, but also the innumerable moments of beauty and insight which, regardless of winning or losing, came from my attempt to do something as well as I possibly could."

the principal threading narrative takes the form of a bike ride. "...six weeks from now, we'd ride the three hundred or so miles from the San Francisco Bay Area to Southern California along the Pacific Coast Highway." hibberd reunites with two close friends, though having ridden very little since leaving a cycling career and studying nietsche, wittgenstein and read the works of "Kesey, Wolfe, Aldous Huxley, and Alan Watts...". during the course of those three hundred miles, the author switches seamlessly between descriptive periods of energetic cycling and a discourse on the history of modern philosophy.

it's hard to deny that subjects such as psychology, literature and philosophy tend to err towards the esoteric end of pelotonic conversation, germain to the few, largely inexplicable to the majority. unlike many of us who could bat for britain when it comes to baffling our non-cycling colleagues with arcane and obscure velocipedinal terminology, hibberd not only holds an intrinsic comprehension of the latter, but that of philosophical thought and theory. what separates him from the also-rans, is an innate ability to clearly explain even the most complex of philosophical concepts to those of us who really are only concerned if the chain has been sufficiently lubricated.

while 'the art of cycling' won't necessarily turn you into an overnight sage, it could well alter the way you view cycling as an activity. and should you find that you now have an insatiable appetite to learn more, hibberd has thoughtfully provided a comprehensive bibliography at the back of the book. it might not be the very book for every cyclist, but it probably should be.

wednesday 2 june 2021

twmp ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................