Originally Posted by
College3.0
When I was a kid, I so loved long car rides, because I could be free to observe everything.
As an adult, when 99% of the time I am in a car, I'm driving.... my attention is completely held captive by this weird combination of a) occupation with driving rules and safety and b) the massive over-stimulation of constantly flying around at speeds of 30mph+. I became aware that I had become de-sensitized to the world around me that I used to enjoy as a kid riding shotgun by decades of fast speed travel in the driver's seat.
One of the things I love most about commuting on my bike, and just riding in general, is that I don't feel like the world is whizzing past me anymore. Even when taking a fast bike ride, it sometimes leaves me feeling a little sad that I don't have more time to look around as I go, even to stop and poke around or enjoy a stream in the park.
It's delightful to become re-sensitized by means of slowness. It's like waking up after a frustrating dream, or coming out of a depression you didn't realize you were in.
I have posted about a seemingly contrary perception of cycling vs driving in a car.
Originally Posted by
Jim from Boston
I'm very motivated by novelty, and stymied by boredom on a bike, but I do have the motivation of commuting to work.
I have found that when I drive my frequent, decades-old routes I often notice things I had not seen before. I think it’s because I can look around at more than just the road surface when driving.
So when the commute [route] is getting too familiar, I just raise my head higher and look over a wider field of view….
Originally Posted by
Jim from Boston
A local BF subscriber @rholland1951 who contributes hundreds of photographs to the local Metro Boston thread from the same 11-mile long MUP he rides, once commented something like that "just the lighting / time of day / day of the year makes the ride “different.”
So too does the direction, one way, or the reverse.