What do You See When You Ride?

I’ll take this over your “muted winter palate” any day, amirite?

A lady in Minneapolis wrote about her experiences as a first-time year-round bike commuter. About biking in Minnesota, she writes:

I got a behind-the-scenes view of the craggy bluffs upon which our city is built, after the trees dropped their leaves. Against winter’s muted palate, I now can appreciate how brightly the sun burns at day’s end, and the equally intense twilight of deep blue left in its wake. Recognizing the nuances helps me recognize the passage of time. Perhaps this sounds like the endorphin-induced ramblings of a bike fetishist, but it’s not really about the bike. Rather it is about the bike’s utility in meeting human needs for movement, and contact with nature and each other.

Ok, so the “muted palate” stuff is a tad pretentious. But she raises a good point. Some of the best things about biking have little to do with actual bikes. But hey, this is Florida. I bet we get better scenery when we ride, and we don’t have to work as hard or wax as poetic in order to appreciate it.

So what do you see when you ride? I want to see some rhapsodies about palm trees, blue skies and wicked sunsets in the comments!