Our top 10 favourite cycling quotes.
“Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of riding a bike” – John F Kennedy
We’ve compiled our favourite quotes about the joys that cycling brings, inspired by Nicola Carass, her friends from the New Forest Off Road Club, and these wonderful pictures from a birthday-weekend ride on the Isle of Purbeck.
Feel free to share this post to inspire others to ride!
1. Friendship
(The bicycle) goes along at the right speed for seeing everything, and as it doesn’t cut me off from my surroundings, it makes me a lot of friends.
– Bettina Selby
Nicola is a member of the New Forest Off Road Club which offers women-led group rides that are all about building community on two wheels.
2. Adventure
“A bicycle ride around the world begins with a single pedal stroke” – Scott Stoll
The group got together to celebrate Nicola’s birthday with a ride on the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset.
3. Freedom
“Let me tell you what I think of bicycling. I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. It gives women a feeling of freedom and self-reliance. I stand and rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a wheel… the picture of freedom, untrammelled.” – Susan B. Anthony
The New Forest Off Road club believes that confident, empowered women improve all spaces they occupy and, that cycling is a great way of working towards this.
4. Achievement
You know, bicycling isn’t just a matter of balance,” I said. “it’s a matter of faith. You can keep upright only by moving forward. You have to have your eyes on the goal, not the ground. I’m going to call that the Bicyclist’s Philosophy of Life.
– Susan Vreeland
And, despite being in Southern England, the Purbecks have a lot of hills to conquer!
5. Happiness:
“It is splendid to feel the wind blowing in my face and the springy motion of my iron steed. The rapid rush through the air gives me a delicious sense of strength and buoyancy, and the exercise makes my pulse dance and my heart sing.” – Hellen Keller
And isn’t it great to share that happiness with friends?
6. Fitness:
Embrace your sweat. It is your essence and your emancipation.
– Kristin Armstrong
Everyone, from a pro athlete to a beginner, has different levels of fitness, a different story and their own end goal - so focus on your own experience and try not to compare yourself to others.
7. Mental health:
“When the spirits are low, when the day appears dark, when work becomes monotonous, when hope hardly seems worth having, just mount a bicycle and go out for a spin down the road, without thought on anything but the ride you are taking” – Arthur Conan Doyle
Or in this case, assemble a group of friends, ride together and celebrate a birthday!
8. The environment:
“The bicycle is the most civilized conveyance known to man. Other forms of transport grow daily more nightmarish. Only the bicycle remains pure in heart.” – Iris Murdoch
And go-anywhere gravel bicycles have especially pure hearts!
9. The great outdoors:
“It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them” – Ernest Hemingway
In other words, we earn the descents!!
10. And finally…
“Ride as much or as little, as long or as short as you feel. But ride” – Eddy Merckx
This.
Thank you Nicola for sharing your birthday adventure with us!
@newforestoffroaadclub
Images @jaywaldon
Favourite Book:
Women Who Run With The Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes
'Women Who Run With The Wolves is a gift of profound insight, wisdom and love. An oracle from one who knows' Alice Walker
In the classic Women Who Run With The Wolves, writer and Jungian psychoanalyst Clarissa Pinkola Estes tells us about the 'wild woman', the wise and ageless presence in the female psyche that gives women their creativity, energy and power.
For centuries, the 'wild woman' has been repressed by a male-orientated value system which trivialises women's emotions. Using a combination of time-honoured stories and contemporary casework, Estes reveals that the 'wild woman' in us is innately healthy, passionate and wise.
Thoughtfully written and compelling in its arguments, Women Who Run With The Wolves gives readers a new sense of direction, a self confidence and purpose in their lives.
Song Of The Week:
