A Brief Pause on Defining the Ineffable
On Being Spontaneous
Jack Kerouac once called spontaneity the fountainhead of creativity and the source of all newness. It makes sense that the work he is best-known for, therefore, is his 1957 novel “On the Road.”
The semi-autobiographical story follows Sal Paradise’s spontaneous trek across the U.S. with his friend Dean Moriarty. They start in New York and drive to San Francisco and back and meet new people and have new experiences along the way.
Sal breaks his routine by traveling, hoping to find new meaning for his life as a writer. And he (Kerouac) found it.
It was in the same spirit of spontaneity that my wife and I decided midweek to travel to Pittsburgh to visit old friends for the weekend. Sure, there were other things happening this weekend that arguably are more important — our routine, work, rest, cleaning the house, watching the next episode of whatever series we’re currently hooked on.
Being spontaneous is important, too. We weren’t in search of new meaning or purpose for our lives — just a fun trip to visit friends we haven’t seen for a couple years.
In the midst of being spontaneous, I did not have (or, rather, make) time to write another “Defining the Ineffable” installment. I promise I have more in the works. And they’re good ones.
In the future, we’ll hear from a bike builder from Wooster, OH whose frames and components are scattered around the world lives in Wooster, a pair of race directors who accidentally created one of Ohio’s hottest gravel races and a friend who was instrumental in cultivating my love for MTB and is now working to build a pump track near his neighborhood in Pittsburgh.
Here’s to being spontaneous, cycopaths. I hope you are able to get on the bike on this Daylight Savings day.
Oh, if you’re new to this newsletter, first of all — welcome! If you have no idea what I’m referring to when I mention “Defining the Ineffable,” here’s a post that introduced the series. Basically, I’m attempting to do the impossible: define the joys of cycling in one, perfect phrase that captures all of the ineffabilities of the activity. And below are some great episodes to catch up on:
Defining the Ineffable with Bike Snob NYC’s Eben Weiss, where he likened riding a bike to listening to his favorite songs on vinyl.
Defining the Ineffable with Syd Schulz, a pro mountain bike racer out of New Mexico who wrote a haiku to define the joys of cycling.
Defining the Ineffable with Kate Wagner, a cycling journalist who rides bikes to simplify her existence.
That should get you started.
Always a fan, for sure spontaneous is definitely fun!