As we roll toward Summer Solstice, I’m reminded of the Buddha’s Sigalovada Sutta or “The Layperson’s Code of Discipline.” In this sutta, inspired by a students’ performance of the ancient Indian custom of sun salutations to the six directions, the Buddha describes harmful actions and attitudes that should be avoided, the importance of extending friendship and kindness, and how to safeguard and support our close relationships.
With a deep bow of gratitude to the Buddha (and, a vigorous nod to Robert Fulghum), and in honor of the glorious Sun who warms us all, I share here my version of “The Cyclist’s Code of Discipline,” or, “All I Really Need to Know I Learned on My Bicycle.”
Happy Summer Solstice, Friends. And, Happy, Safe Summer Cycling!
THE CYCLIST’S CODE OF DISCIPLINE
OR
ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED ON MY BICYCLE
~Julie Brooks
All I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned while riding my bicycle. Wisdom was not at the top of a French mountain, but there in the saddle of my bike on backroads and rail trails. These are the things I learned:
Share the road.
Ride responsibly.
Don’t run over people.
Put bike tools back where you found them.
Clean up your own chain lube and grease.
Don’t take a bike that isn’t yours.
Say you’re sorry when you cut off a pedestrian, and don’t flip off a motorist who honks or cust you off.
Be generous.
Drafting is good, especially for the cyclist in the back of your peloton.
Take off your gloves and wash your hands before you eat.
Stop at stop signs and red lights.
Snickers Bars and chocolate milk are good for you.
Live a balanced cycling life—pedal some and ponder some, and coast and sprint, and race at least once. Take your turn in a paceline seriously. Don’t be afraid to walk up hills that are too steep, and explore a new area of your town, city or the countryside every week.
Wear a helmet.
When you go out for a group ride, stick together, and watch out for automobiles, squirrels, small children, broken glass and potholes.
Be curious. Remember the training wheels on your first bike. For days, weeks, even months, you rode with abandon up and down your driveway. Then the training wheels came off, and you took off into your neighborhood and beyond.
And then remember the Berenstein Bears’ book, The Bike Lesson, and Mrs. Armitage on Wheels, and the first words you learned—the biggest words of all—KEEP PEDALING!
Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rules of the Road and love and basic hospitality. Ecology and politics and equality and sane living.
Take any of those items and transform it into sophisticated adult terms and apply it to your family life or your work or your government or your world and it holds true and clear and firm.
Think what a better world it would be if we all—the whole world—shared the road and had Snickers Bars and chocolate milk every afternoon. Or if all governments had as a basic policy to always put things back where they found them and to clean up their own mess.
And it is still true, no matter how old you are–when you go out on a ride, it is best to keep your head up and KEEP PEDALING!