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Why Do You Ride?

Note:  If you’re hav­ing trou­ble view­ing the video, click here.

 

Why do you ride?

Lance writes sto­ries from his heart, aim­ing to inspire and moti­vate, as you align more fully with YOUR true peak. When he’s not here, you can find him hang­ing out with his fam­ily, rid­ing a bike, or just gen­er­ally act­ing goofy.   Sign up for the Thoughts from the Tree­house newslet­ter and get addi­tional inspi­ra­tion in your email inbox!
Lance Ekum
View all posts by Lance Ekum

Comments

  1. Tim says:

    Hi Lance:

    Great topic…I ride because it is absolutely the best way to clear my head.
    Tim´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..My Mom or Why I Want To Be Like JaydenMy Profile

    • Lance says:

      Hi Tim!
      Bik­ing is great for that — I love get­ting out on the bike path near our house on early morn­ing, and just “being” out there — so good to clear out all those thoughts that are nor­mally bounc­ing around in my head.

      Thanks for sharing!!

  2. Well that’s just the most delight­ful lit­tle video ever! And it makes me want to (what?!!) RIDE! Actu­ally, I’ve thought about this — and I have some fear around cycling here, there and every­where instead of dri­ving. Not phys­i­cal fear, but some­thing else. Why else wouldn’t I com­mit to at least try­ing to give up my car 50% of the time, or when­ever fea­si­ble?
    Lance, do you ride as often as you can? I’m so inter­ested in not just talk­ing about mak­ing changes that help the world, but DOING it. Act­ing on it. Being the change. Might you please keep kick­ing my butt in this regard by doing sim­i­lar posts from time to time?
    Lov­ing you, my friend, and thank­ful for your energy. Happy Sat­ur­day! Happy Sun­shine Day! Happy Love­bug Day! Happy Ice Cream Day! (Evita, don’t read this com­ment!) (smile)

    • Lance says:

      Megan,
      This video sure is sweet and fun! (I’m per­son­ally lov­ing the idea of choco­late milk tankers instead of oil tankers!)

      I DO *try* to ride as much as I can. Some days that’s eas­ier than oth­ers (I did get 18 miles in on Fri­day!). And the thing is — when I do bike, it’s like there’s this auto­matic boost in how I feel (just in gen­eral)! And I feel like it does make a dif­fer­ence, even if it’s small, in mak­ing our world a bet­ter place.

      (ha!!!) Okay.…(the butt kick­ing)!! (and now…I’m laugh­ing out loud!!)

      Love you, dear friend…love you way, way more than even ice cream!!

  3. What a great video, Lance!!

    I ride because I CAN! In the last few years we have had bike trails being devel­oped like crazy. I am for­tu­nate to live in a town that advo­cates bike rid­ing. To some extent, it is CRAZY that peo­ple are rid­ing in snow­storms dur­ing the win­ter with their stud­ded bike tires. They are braver than I am:) But we are very for­tu­nate here to have a huge non-profit orga­ni­za­tion called Adven­ture Cycling. They are the “wheels” behind the national “rails to trails” program…converting old rail­ways into bike paths. In the next two years I will see a new bike trail that comes around the moun­tain on an old trail that con­nects to my neigh­bor­hood 8 miles from town and be able to ride-traffic free-all the way in!! So excited.

    This video got me a lit­tle teary. Loved it!
    Happy Sat­ur­day, friend. Ride on!
    Love,
    Jen
    Lit­tle Lessons Under the Big Sky´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Den Chron­i­cles– Being a baby!My Profile

    • Lance says:

      Jen,
      I know!!! This video is just so, so fun!

      I LOVE that — you ride because you can!! And bike trails are a great way to get out there and have a safer place to ride. So, how awe­some that your town is cre­at­ing these trails!

      Now…about that “rid­ing in any weather”.…ummm, they are braver than I, too!! Me: a bit more of the “fair weather” biker!)

      Okay — we SHALL meet up one of these days.…and let’s add bik­ing to the itinerary!!

      Happy trails, sweet friend…
      Lance

  4. So many won­der­ful mes­sages here Lance. Thanks for shar­ing this with us.

    Alex

  5. What a great lit­tle video! “I’ll grow a heart so strong that hos­pi­tals will take Tues­days off” — I LOVE that. Per­son­ally, I don’t ride much. I live in a fab­u­lous city that I love. But bike rid­ing isn’t on the menu here. Few bike paths and crazy, crazy dri­vers. But this lit­tle video has inspired me. I think the next time I’m in the coun­try side, I’ll rent a bike for a few hours. Thanks for the inspi­ra­tion. :)

    Hugs,
    Melody
    Melody | Delib­er­ate Receiving´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..2012 and the End of the World NotMy Profile

    • Lance says:

      Melody,
      I love the “Tues­days off” too!! (that and the choco­late milk tankers!!)

      Hav­ing a safe place to ride can really make a dif­fer­ence. I’m lucky that we have a nice trail not far from our house, plus we live in an area that has light traffic.

      My son and I were in Sedona, AZ last fall — and rented bikes while we were out there. What a blast that was — explor­ing the area on two wheels! So, def­i­nitely con­sider the bike rental idea when you’re out in the countryside!

      Hugs and love!
      Lance

  6. Great video. I hate to say but I am not a fan of bike rid­ing & espe­cially in my crowded area of south­ern CA.… but ya never know.… ;-)
    Jody — Fit at 53´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Sat­ur­day FunniesMy Profile

    • Lance says:

      Jody,
      That’s the thing — this is not for every­one. And that’s okay. I know you’re out there get­ting your share of exer­cise, any­way — so that itself is very awesome!

  7. Jean Burman says:

    Hi Lance!

    Bike rid­ing seems to be a global phe­nom­e­non at the moment. Here in my home­town a brand new bike path has been built from the mid­dle of the CBD right out to the air­port. It will even­tu­ally extend right up to the north­ern beaches 30 kilo­me­tres away. My only argu­ment is that it hasn’t been well thought out and the track now winds par­al­lel to the road and in some places the road has been nar­rowed so much that it has become unsafe for cars [AND bikes]. Read­ing Jen’s com­ment above about how the rail tracks have been utilised… made me think how much bet­ter a solu­tion this would have been!

    It’s early morn­ing Sun­day here and I’m off on my walk. Will be watch­ing out for out of con­trol bik­ers though as one of my walk­ing bud­dies got cleaned up on the walk­ing path the other day by a rider com­ing around the cor­ner on the wrong side *sigh* [That’s not to say all bike rid­ers are out to get the pedes­tri­ans but you have to watch your back all the same] (((chuckles)))

    Loved the video! So upbeat [and you know how I love upbeat!]

    Hope you had a great Sat­ur­day Lance :-)
    Jean Burman´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Clouds Illu­sions I RecallMy Profile

    • Lance says:

      Hi Jean!
      Here in Wis­con­sin, we (as a state) have also uti­lized old rail­road tracks to develop bike paths. In fact, the path near my house is exactly that — and it just winds wher­ever the old rail­road track used to go — and it’s such a nice ride (and is typ­i­cally no where near the highway).

      About the bik­ers that choose to not fol­low com­mon eti­quette and cour­tesy — that’s exactly what can cre­ate neg­a­tiv­ity toward bik­ing. I’m not sure what a good solu­tion is to that — as these paths like I use are also used by walk­ers, run­ners, roller bladers, etc, etc. And when every­one can use the space in har­mony — then these paths are a real ben­e­fit to all (and that’s how it should be).

      And — yes, the video really is upbeat and fun!

      It has been a won­der­ful week­end, although no bik­ing for me — hope­fully some­time this com­ing week I’ll be back out there!

      Hugs to YOU!
      Lance

      • Jean Burman says:

        I guess bik­ing is a lot like life then really. The same com­mon sense and good man­ners… and car­ing about our fel­low [peeples] on the path [grin] I think [too] we can make mis­takes of judge­ment… not mean­ing to be unthinking.

        I meant to ask after your ribs as well but for­got. Hope you are all healed after that nasty spill you had a while back? [No need to answer — I know you’ve got plenty of answer­ing to do here — but just wanted to men­tion it]

        Have a great day Lance :-)
        Jean Burman´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Clouds Illu­sions I RecallMy Profile

        • Lance says:

          Jean,
          You are so thought­ful for remem­ber­ing — thank you!!

          Yes, the ribs have healed nicely from that *ahem* fall back in Novem­ber. It took a good month or two and after that everything’s been good. I haven’t tried any crazy jumps with the bike, though, since then!!!

          I am hav­ing a GREAT night…and it’s because you are here in this space!

          • Jean Burman says:

            Oops for­got it was night there. Mid­dle of the day Mon­day here [already] So far sunny skies ahead… now just watch some ran­dom dark cloud come along and spoil it! (((chuck­les))) Night Lance :-)
            Jean Burman´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Clouds Illu­sions I RecallMy Profile

  8. Hi Lance.

    Sweet video. I’ve been bicy­cling actively on sin­gle tracks and com­mut­ing and plea­sure rid­ing through cities for years. It’s my most favorite form of trans­porta­tion and the rea­son I ride is the joy it brings to my entire being.
    I wince when I see bicy­clists not fol­low­ing the rules of the road as it jeop­ar­dizes rela­tion­ships with pedes­tri­ans and motorists.

    May we all be respect­ful of each other.
    Susie
    Susie / Wise At Work´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..The Unseen and Unheard That We All Can HoldMy Profile

    • Lance says:

      Hi Susie!
      I can so, so relate to that “joy to your entire being”! I love get­ting out on my bike, and it’s like it just refreshes every­thing when I do (okay — except on a hot and humid day…maybe “refresh” is quite the right word!!).

      When we can all fol­low some basic rules of safety, we can cre­ate an envi­ron­ment where we can all get along and enjoy what­ever mode of trans­porta­tion we’ve cho­sen — such a great point.

      Thanks so, so much for your thoughts — I’m smil­ing (from my soul) as I read this…

  9. ~ Bern ~ says:

    To cruise beyond strain
    Where Up and Down become One and the Same.
    ~ Bern ~´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Honey Bees Gath­er­ing Nec­tar from Kin­nikin­nick FlowersMy Profile

  10. Hi Lance,
    Great lit­tle vid & a ter­rific mes­sage. My “ride” is via my two feet rather than wheels. I love to stride away, clear my head, dream up (some­times) flashes of bril­liance. Thanks for shar­ing.
    Be good to your­self
    David
    David Stevens´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..It’s hard enough being Me– let alone some­one that I’m notMy Profile

    • Lance says:

      David,
      And there’s absolutely noth­ing wrong with that — get­ting out there and walking/running/hopping/skipping — it’s all great! I love to get out and run, and my wife and I often go for walks — it’s a great way for us to just “be” with each other and get some fresh air in the process.

      Here’s to movement!!

  11. Emergefit says:

    I gave away my car nearly a year and a half ago. I did so in part, because I live in a small town in a warm cli­mate; Fall­brook, CA. Still, I ride in the rain. I ride in the wind. I ride in the dark, and I ride in the heat. I love Love LOVE my bikes. I love my com­mute and I love the feel­ing I get know­ing I don’t buy gas, I don’t pay for insur­ance, and I make a dif­fer­ence every day of my life because I choose to live with­out a car. I love this video Lance,thank you.
    Emergefit´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..A Cool Change…My Profile

    • Lance says:

      Hey Roy,
      This is just com­pletely awe­some!!! You, my friend, are my hero!

      And how cool — you do this no mat­ter what the con­di­tions out­side — you ARE mak­ing a major dif­fer­ence in cre­at­ing a world that’s cleaner and happier!

      And…I don’t think I told you — I was in Fall­brook this win­ter — a quick stop to visit my aunt and uncle on a trip out to CA for a con­fer­ence. Next time…I’m look­ing you up when I’m in town!!

  12. I don’t ride because I don’t know how to!! Never learn. But I love walk­ing and I walk a lot.

    I love see­ing peo­ple breez­ing by on their bikes. They look so cool!

    Thanks for shar­ing this video. I will learn how to ride a bike and I’ve put it down in my bucket list.
    InspiringAlways´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..15 Awe­some Tips for Twit­ter and LifeMy Profile

    • Lance says:

      Inspir­ing Always,
      First off — walk­ing is really a great thing, too — and some­thing I also enjoy very much! So, very awe­some that you’re out there doing this!

      Learn­ing to ride can be a scary thing. In a way, that reminds me of when I recently started yoga. I felt unsure as I was com­ing into a class where every­one else was a reg­u­lar already. And…it’s all been good and okay. When I “fall”, I’m picked back up — and today I feel con­fi­dent in that. So, I KNOW you can do this!!! And…I“m cheer­ing you on!!!

  13. Evelyn Lim says:

    Love your video! I haven’t been rid­ing much. It’s not con­ducive from where I stay. Still, I hope to get out more to do fun activ­i­ties. I’ve been busy in the recent weeks and a break would be nice.

    Have an awe­some week­end!!
    Eve­lyn Lim´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Self Love Series– Love Your­self Teach­ings By BuddhaMy Profile

    • Lance says:

      Eve­lyn,
      You know, I believe that’s really a big part of what this is all about — get­ting out and hav­ing fun. We are blessed with this amaz­ing nat­ural world we live in — and when we can get out and expe­ri­ence it more fully — there’s a lot of good in that. With bik­ing, throw in the ben­e­fits to our envi­ron­ment and to our well-being, and it’s a great way to get out! If that’s not really the best option where you are though — it’s about find­ing those things are are pos­si­ble. So, keep get­ting out there, dear friend — I know you do!!

      Big hugs!
      Lance

  14. Stun­ning!! Thanks for shar­ing this, Lance. After get­ting into moun­tain bik­ing last year, I LOVE this video and its beau­ti­ful mes­sage. There’s some­thing about cycling in the open air that takes us back to the inno­cence of child­hood :-)
    Naomi Estment´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..PainMy Profile

    • Lance says:

      Hi Naomi,
      This video is just so fun to watch!

      And how cool — you out there moun­tain bik­ing!! I haven’t done a lot of that, although I took my son to Sedona, AZ this past fall — and we did exactly that. And it was a blast!! I’m plan­ning to get in some more of it this year!!

      Happy rid­ing!!

  15. Hey Lance,
    I live in a bucolic set­ting that get’s tons of bike rid­ers, espe­cially on the week­ends. There is a cool lit­tle BBQ joint down the street that they all go to fill up their water bot­tles and get some energy bars.
    Justin | Mazzastick´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..You Are Not Your BodyMy Profile

    • Lance says:

      Justin,
      That’s one of the really fun parts of a lit­tle bike ride — find­ing place like this BBQ joint. For us, it’s a lit­tle cus­tard stand — and that’s a real treat after a few miles of biking!

  16. suzen says:

    Hi Lance! AWESOME, my friend! I ride at the lake house every­where — to the gro­cery store with a neat bas­ket on my bike as well as a back pack. It’s a bit harder here but I walk a lot. I think using cars less is the point but there is noth­ing like a good ride for exer­cise and to be in nature, really in it! Thanks for the reminder to get out there and pedal my butt a bit more wher­ever I am!
    Hugs
    suZen
    suzen´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Zumba Into Fit &amp Trim or Die Trying!My Profile

    • Lance says:

      Hi Suzen!
      Very cool — you at your lake house!! Some of those rides to the gro­cery store or just around the block — it’s like it takes me back to a time when I didn’t have to rush around so much (and I really love that!).

      So, happy bik­ing to you…up north AND at home!!

      Big, big hugs!
      Lance

  17. Ewa says:

    Lance, what a great clip. Thank you.
    In my dream world I can ride, walk, or run to any place I need to go. I use a zip-car if I have to go far­ther or if the dream is really good, I rely on pub­lic trans­porta­tion.
    In my real world, there are only a cou­ple of places I can bike to and prac­ti­cally no places I can walk to. This is the result of liv­ing the Amer­i­can dream with­out much thought before embark­ing on that path.
    Just yearn­ing for a change won’t make it hap­pen, will it? So here I am dri­ving to all those beau­ti­ful places in nature I love so much and con­tribut­ing to pol­lu­tion that makes them and the planet sick. So much for true love.
    Ewa´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Say­ing Good Bye to a Good FriendMy Profile

    • Lance says:

      Ewa,
      This is a really tough one. I know you love nature (as I do, too). And still, to get to that nature can some­times mean modes of trans­porta­tion that feel less than good for our won­der­ful environment.

      What to do? Skip out on some­thing that brings so much mean­ing? Or con­tribute to the pollution…to be able to spend some time with our amaz­ing Mother Nature? I know I don’t have a good answer. We don’t have pub­lic trans­porta­tion (or zip cars) where I’m at. Drive cars that are more envi­ron­men­tally friendly, perhaps?

      Ewa, thank you so much for bring­ing this up.…and a good sub­ject for even more dis­cus­sion. (per­haps a post in the future)

  18. rob white says:

    Pow­er­ful mes­sage, Lance. A great way to give our selves res­olutely to nature. Any­thing lit­tle we can do to live in har­mony with the planet is ben­e­fit to the whole of human­ity.
    rob white´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..The Quan­tum of MoneyMy Profile

    • Lance says:

      Rob,
      That’s one of the really cool things about bik­ing — it is so humanity-friendly. I love get­ting out there, too, and just being in nature…

  19. Galen Pearl says:

    Although I’m not much of a rider myself, I love the fact that so many peo­ple in my city bike. Port­land is one of the most bike friendly cities in the coun­try. Many peo­ple bike to work. Par­ents are often seen bik­ing with kids. It is a very bike friendly cul­ture. Great video!
    Galen Pearl´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Its Not About YouMy Profile

    • Lance says:

      Galen,
      I’ve heard such won­der­ful things about the bik­ing com­mu­nity in Port­land — so awesome!!

      And I’m guess­ing that this bike friendly com­mu­nity also rolls over into other aspects of treat­ing our envi­ron­ment well…

      Thanks so much for visiting!

  20. Hi Lance,

    I love moun­tain bik­ing, it is such a treat to get out of the city and up into the moun­tains and enjoy the soli­tude of the trail.
    Todd | Channelingmyself´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Souls Zom­bies and Judge­ment DayMy Profile

    • Lance says:

      Hi Todd,
      I did my first real moun­tain bik­ing this past year — and it was exactly that — there was a real soli­tude being out and away from every­thing. Very awesome!!

  21. Hi Lance. Nice video you have there. And yeah, I do ride some­times when I need to relieve any kind of stress that’ve been pil­ing up in me.
    Andrew Walker´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Coromega Dis­count CodesMy Profile

    • Lance says:

      Andrew,
      This is a great one!! Almost every time I’m out there rid­ing, I fin­ish and feel that way too — it’s like the stress melts away. Espe­cially so when I get out on a trail someplace.

      Thanks for sharing!

  22. J.D. Meier says:

    I ride for the free­dom and the feel of it.

    Come to think of it, I used to have that free­dom and feel from run­ning. I need to get back to that.
    J.D. Meier´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Lead­er­ship ChecklistMy Profile

    • Lance says:

      JD,
      I did a lot of run­ning last year, and have been a bit of a slacker at that all through the win­ter. It’s time for me to get back at that, too!

  23. Beverley says:

    A lovely video Lance…almost makes me want to go and get a bike! :)
    Beverley´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Can you feel the hugMy Profile

    • Lance says:

      Bev­erly,
      Yes, this really IS a lovely video!!

      And if you do get a bike…yahooo!!! And if not, you can always think happy thoughts as you see bik­ers out there cruis­ing around!

  24. Ah, rid­ing. I remem­ber the gor­geous free­dom as I sped down the high­way and fol­lowed the Santa Ana River all the way down to the coast. I used to bike 20 miles a day, every day. It was a great chance to enjoy time for myself to just let my mind wan­der and just…feel free. Just free.

    Look­ing back, my best med­i­ta­tions are all mov­ing med­i­ta­tions: wash­ing dishes, bik­ing, dri­ving well-known routes in the coun­try­side, pilates exercises…something that lets my mind wan­der freely while my body engages in famil­iar habits. I’m not the sit-down and ohm type of meditator. =)

    (and no, I wouldn’t zone out while dri­ving to the point where I’d lose myself! Just enough to let my mind mull things over with­out inter­rup­tion.)
    Delena Silverfox´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Man­hat­tan­ite CodeMy Profile

    • Lance says:

      Delena,
      I find that’s one of the very won­der­ful things about bik­ing, too — the free­ing feel­ing of being out there and the whole-body well­be­ing that comes from that (very much includ­ing those med­i­ta­tive moments).

      And…ha!! Right — zon­ing out com­pletely while dri­ving would not be a good thing!

      Have a GREAT weekend!

  25. Hey Lance, Love the video, bro. Very fun and takes me back to being a kid. I biked all the time then. Since I’ve grown up, I’ve owned one bike and didn’t take the best care of it. It didn’t last. This week, though, we sur­prised our old­est daugh­ter with a new bike — her FIRST with­out train­ing wheels. She’s six and this week we’ll be teach­ing her how to ride it. Makes me want a new one! Thanks for shar­ing! :)
    Bryan Thompson´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..A Let­ter to My Six Year-Old Daughter!My Profile

    • Lance says:

      Bryan,
      I remem­ber when our kids learned to ride — fun times!! Now they are more about what kind of crazi­ness they can do on those two wheels!!

      And — how cool that could be, if you started bik­ing with your daugh­ter — what a great bond­ing expe­ri­ence. I remem­ber many bike trips to the park (or the local cus­tard stand!) with my kids — and those are really great memories!!

      Woohoo!! Tell your daugh­ter to have fun on her new bike!!!

  26. Beverley says:

    Hey Lance — I have included your blog in my list for the ‘ver­sa­tile blog­ger award’. Hope you dont mind.…you need not do any­thing unless you wish to. Just wanted to share your blog with some of my read­ers :)
    Beverley´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..My first ever award!My Profile

  27. I ride because I love the feel­ing of wind whistling past my flushed cheeks.

  28. Such a great video. I ride because I want to con­quer the fear of falling. :)

  29. Hi Lance,

    I haven’t bike since my child­hood ended but the video above cre­ated an urge to try bik­ing again. Thanks for shar­ing the nice video.
    Andrew Walker´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..iGo Pro­mo­tion CodeMy Profile

  30. Nice video! I ride in order to shed some weight and, at the same time, strengthen my mus­cles on both legs. Bik­ing is one form of exer­cise and if there is one rea­son I do it, it is to get slim­mer. :D
    Con­nie @ Res­i­den­tial Car­pet Cleaning´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Keep­ing Mold Out Bet­ter HealthMy Profile

    • Lance says:

      Con­nie,
      Isn’t that great — just by get­ting out there and biking…we can lose a lit­tle weight and gain a lit­tle mus­cle! (win!!)

      Thanks for the visit!

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