Biking might sound boring to you. You could see it as just another one of the activities that people enjoy, but you don’t ever see yourself getting that into it. Or as a way of transportation if you don’t have a car. That’s exactly how I used to see it. But if you’ve never tried, try it. And if you have tried it before, I want you to try again. Because what happened for me was life changing and if you could experience what I did, you need to.
I’m passionate about biking because it has made me think and calmed me like nothing else before. Ever since that one random morning I experienced last year I never thought of biking the same. It was around the time I was undergoing a ton of stress about grades because I had a big final test in every class. On top of that, that same week, I had my Algebra Exit Exam which would determine if I passed the class or not. And since I was in 7th grade, if I failed I couldn’t go to Summer of Algebra, which would let me automatically pass, meaningI would have to take Algebra again throughout my whole 8th grade year. But randomly one morning when I was biking to school around 6:40 in the morning, everything became so beautiful, I found tranquility in biking. You know when elders described certain aspects of life as if they were everything? I never fully saw what they saw and just nodded along. I didn’t actually understand how the birds sang so beautifully, how the air was so fresh, and how breathtaking the sunset was. That random morning, what they always said became so clear. All the stress that I had built up from that month—from the whole year, in fact—was gone. Before, it felt like I had a million different voices in my head telling me what to do and what to not forget. But as I entered that state of complete calm, it felt like they all went away. I sat down for a minute and realized life isn’t about panicking about stress, and that I still had time. Before that, I never saw biking as something important, I might have been like you if you only see biking as a way of transportation. Now, whenever I have the chance to bike, I do. And I always end up finding myself taking in everything around me and all that stress I may have leaving me.
I know for a fact you get stressed, and I’m pretty sure if you could get away from that you would. Now biking for me doesn’t get rid of it all forever. It all comes back eventually. But it does help and it could be something you really enjoy so I hope you try it.
And yes, I know what you may be thinking, why not just go for a walk? But that’s still just in the mindset of transportation and not relieving stress. And I know that it all depends on the person but from personal experience. Biking helps a lot more than a walk, because it’s all in how fast you go. When biking not only do you get the wind in your face, which feels amazing. But you also see everything as you pass it.
In the end, if you couldn’t tell, I really enjoy biking. I really want other people like you to see it how I do and help you in any certain situation you might be going through. Because it’s helped me a lot and even though I’ve described it as a type of therapy this entire time, it’s also what I said to not see it as by itself. A way of transportation. And if you ever do end up trying it, I hope you have fun like I do.
Jaycob Ippolito – St. Patrick High School – DMSF Class of 2030
Photo Credit: PickPik