I shall guide you through a bicycle meditation:
As you make the decision to go for a purposeless bike ride, close your eyes and breathe deeply 10 times and observe the feelings which accompany this decision. Are you excited and eager, feeling calm and peaceful, trepidatious about the grey clouds or the mechanical reliability of your bike. Do you feel guilty that there are chores and tasks to be done? Are you biking as a means of avoiding these? Watch these thoughts and let them go. Maintain your discipline and follow through with your decision to ride.
Prepare your needs. Do you require water, snacks, extra clothes? Again focus completely on these decisions, one at a time. If you find yourself churning over unfinished business, pay attention to your breath , acknowledge these tendencies and let them flow away like a leaf in a stream.
You are ready to approach your bike. Examine it and make the necessary repairs or adjustments, again paying attention only to the task you are engaged in.. When you deem the bike fit, again take several deep breaths letting yourself be drawn to this marvelous machine.
As you mount the saddle, feeling the pressure of the seat on your bum, notice the changes within your body, the shifting load, the filling of your hands with the handlegrips, the texture on your palms, listen to the creaking chassis, the �clinks?and �sproings?
When this settling in has settled down and you are ready to begin the ride, again close your eyes and breathe deeply ten times, let all thoughts and anticipation�s of the ride float by, and be as conscious as you can of your breath, and then of the sensations within your body. When you feel clear and calm open your eyes and begin.
Probably you will have to negotiate some city streets and traffic before you get to a bike path. Be mindful of the movement around you but as often as possible return your attention to your breath and the feelings in your legs and arms and torso. When you arrive at a path free of cars, let even more of your consciousness flow into the corporeal sensations. Reach with one hand and feel the thigh muscles contract and relax. Feel the wind on your face and chest. Feel your breathing rate increase, watch your breath. At times when the coast is clear and straight , close your eyes for a bit giving more attention to the sensations from within. When you open them again, let the sky fill you up. Let the patterns of moving leaves tickle your retinas. Listen to the purr of the tires on the pavement or the continuous crunch of tire on gravel.
Swerve from side to side , letting your body feel the weight shifting, your stomach swinging. Pedal faster, pull harder on the handlegrips, raise yourself from your seat by the force as you are pushing down on the pedals... . you are flying now, gliding through space, passing birds and bees and insects. Now just coast....and listen ....and feel and let your body settle into the air flowing past you.
When you return home, stay seated on the bike for a few minutes. Again be mindful of the sensation as you let your bike hold you one last minute. Then rise, feeling your legs regain your weigh and then last as you release your grip on the handlebars, breathe deeply ten times and go on with your life.