The Best Cycling Times

My opinion: the two best times to ride a bicycle are dusk and dawn. Besides witnessing the sun as it renders the world in a more ethereal multicolored palette, being outside at dusk and dawn somehow syncs the mind with the natural sleep pattern that is meant for our biology.

Riding at dusk in Missouri also allows me to view one of my favorite “angry” birds, the American robin, during its feasting time. These aggressive little things flutter down from their nests to pluck worms from the soil. In grassy fields to my left and right, I can visibly see the plump worms being hoisted from the earth!

And at dusk, as shadows stretch and dominate the landscape, the tiny bird silhouettes are magnificent in sheer number, if not size.

These birds are fearless and territorial! They have a severe Napoleon complex, believing themselves bigger and stronger than their human opponents.

One time I was walking in Tower Grove park when an American robin flew down and landed on the path directly in front of me with a worm in its beak. It stared me down!

It was as if the little dude was saying, “You’re in my world now, ya wuss. And these worms are mine. Just try and pry them from my cold dead beak. See what happens.”

Orange is a powerful color, and these orange breasted birds are clearly distinguished by the color.

Maybe I like them because I connect a little with their mentality. Pride is underrated.

Sometimes I similarly wear an orange cycling jacket when I ride a bike in winter; there’s no proof that orange makes these birds “feel tougher”, but damn does it feel fly to rock some orange. Try me, the color beckons.

One thing I learned from the competition days is that belief is a necessary precedent to accomplishment. A little American robin mentality never hurt anyone.