I was in a state of absolute bliss today, riding my bike along a quiet country road. The first warm day of the year. It was a perfect day, with the air crisp and clear. And a couple of miles into it, it hits. I am suddenly in this exquisite and delicious state of consciousness – a sense of profound freedom and sheer joy that is produced when my butt hits the saddle of my Kestrel road bike. It's a state of bike saddle satori, when everything in the world feels just right. And even if it isn't, that's just right too. It's all about letting yourself go, full tilt boogie. It's programming that's deep in my genes that's screaming at me... come on, man... don't ever wear a suit... don't ever give into the rat race... don't ever let yourself do anything that isn't an adventure.... just put your butt in that saddle, let go and fly away!

The feeling is so special and overwhelming, that I am compelled to analyze it. But now that I'm home and sitting at the computer, what else can I do? So here I am, poking at it and dissecting it. So how did it happen? What did it feel like exactly? What does it mean? How was it different from all the other times I've biked?

Well, I think the most important factor was that it was the first warm day, after months and months of cold weather, the flu and a global travel schedule that kept me on a different kind of road. I've been traveling extensively for work, and just haven't been able to log the miles that I need on my bike. Then... add a case of dysentery from Cairo, and a misbegottten ride during the coldest day in December that almost gave me frostbite, and suddenly, you can see how that first warm day can bring it all back. It was almost 70˚F today, but still, unwilling to trust the sun, I started out with a windbreaker. It wasn't long before the windbreaker came off and I was flying down hills in sheer joy... like I was thirteen again.

But it's more than that. This ride has kindled the oddest emotions within. I had a distinct feeling of... What? Nostalgia? And it's blended with... romance! Yeah, that's it. It's as if I had forgotten how much I missed biking, and suddenly I realized that I'm in love with biking as if this sports activity were a person. Now throw in a dash of endorphins earned by breaking through the wall, and what resulted was like meeting an old flame again after twenty years and all these uncontrollable feelings gush out and next thing I know I'm on a plane to Paris. But in this case, here I am, flying down a hill at 30 mph, iPod playing my favorite workout tunes, the wind rushing against my face. Every cell is crying out – I am deeply and madly in love with biking. At this very moment, butt off the saddle and pumping up a hill, feet locked into the clipless pedals, not a care in the world... I am in love with life. And the most concrete feeling is the wind in my face. It's fresh and clean and, I guess, full of negative ions because I'm riding next to a lake. But why? Why is this wind on my cheek is making me so emotional?

This joy of being alive, which has mixed with neuroadrenaline and memories of childhood, now has a component of sadness in it. Then inexplicably, I remember my father, who passed away long ago. So when I get home, I remember something. You see, my father was an explorer, and a book was published in the 1940s about an expedition he was on... it was called The Marching Wind. As soon as I get home, before I get into the shower, I go to the bookcase where I keep the book, and I open up the very last page of the book. And there it is... it reads – "Solomon and I whiled away the time talking about Amne Machin and our friends. Oddly enough, the thing that he remembered most was those days when we had a steady marching wind on the cheek." [Note: Solomon was my dad. The book is back in print, amazingly, and you can get it at Amazon.]

Ah, so that's it. In a simple bike ride, my entire life is recalled and folded back onto itself. For some reason, I can see the entire macrocosm of the universe, spinning on the rims of my bike. It all makes sense, this profusion of emotions. It all fits and provides the perfect conclusion to the perfect ride.

Anyway, that's what it felt like. Today.