I’ve always had a thing for long rides. For me, there was nothing really more satisfying then choosing a destination really far off on the map, planning a route and then heading off as far as I could get.

I never picked places that I knew I couldn’t make it to, but I did push the limits on some occasions. One of those was my longest ride ever, which was 200km and there is nothing more exhilarating than the feeling of pushing through the utter exhaustion you start to feel after a few hours.

But during those hours, all other worries are gone, and the complete focus is on the here and now.

Which allows my brain to truly relax.

Sure, my body is being beaten by the sun and the road, but that focus lets my brain relax about everything else.

Even this last Sunday a short, slow ride with Christina went on to almost double the time it was supposed to because I lose most of my sense of time.

Back to my friends house.

So on my way back from my friends house I took an old, time-tested route up the hill through the graveyard. This is a twisting, narrow road, well known to me and my friends that rode it for the tight squeezes when cars come careering around the corner on a road only one vehicle wide.

Although for the first time ever, the ride was on motorbike, it was still good to get out, and almost as relaxing (of course I was going a little faster so needed to pay more attention to the road).

The payoff is the awesome view of the hills around Taipei from the top.

By getting totally relaxed, my brain is ready for all the other stuff that comes.

Despite putting in all that time, the rest of my time can then be well spent.

And the strange thing is that I still manage to squeeze it all in.

Just like this article.

Gotta get up for a ride tomorrow.