A love story: Why I revel in the magic of cycling, and more. Much more.

Hello, and welcome to Revel Rides. I'm Lindsey, an American woman/mother/business owner/ avid lover of the outdoors, especially cycling!

Are you interested in the story about how I came to absolutely love cycling and how it has brought so much joy and peace to my life? Hope so, because here we go! 😁

Back in 1991, I was mountain biking with my dad and brothers on a sunny summer day in Keystone, Colorado. All was fun until I hit my front brakes too hard and went flying over the handlebars! My hands and arms had road-rash, and I was now completely terrified to ever mountain bike again. So I didn't! The following years were full of skiing, snowboarding, hiking and biking (for commuting or in a spin class).

So the actual love story between me and cycling happened later in life...in my 40's!

In 2011, I up and moved from my active and stable life in Denver, Colorado, and landed in the bustling (and very foreign, ahem - French) city of Paris, France. For the better part of the next decade, I put building my photography career first. And wellness came second (then last after my daughter was born in 2016!). In Paris, I hit the ground running (not literally, unfortunately) and founded my photography business, Pictours Paris.

Business grew lightning fast and I was working 7 days a week. I would schedule photo shoots at both sunrise and sunset, all year long. One year in July I had 70 photo sessions on the books. Seventy!!

My life revolved around my business, but I was happy and lucky! I was living the dream! Luckily I kept active during photo shoots and walked or cycled to and from each session, so keeping fit was easy. But I rarely made the time away from work to actually workout for pleasure.

I loved cycling through Paris to and from work, running errands, or visiting friends. Much preferred mode of transport over the crowded Metro or expensive taxis!

About five years into life abroad in Paris, my then husband and I had the crazy idea to open a restaurant (I was married to a cook and that is what initially landed us in France). We decided to do this thing and then I became pregnant! Life was a bit chaotic, but I sure did love the thrill of it and the fast-paced days of chasing and fulfilling my dreams. Pictours Paris + a restaurant + a baby girl, oh my!! :)

I promise this story is about my love for cycling...hang with me here. ;)

A mere five weeks after my daughter was born, we opened the restaurant. My two amazing brothers came out for the occasion - to meet my baby girl and help us with final details while I was in and out nursing/caring for baby girl and planning the launch of opening day.

While I do remember said opening day, the following days and months and years became a blur of one very remarkable juggling act.

It was supposed to be the happiest time of my life: to finally be a mother and experience that kind of deep, deep love. But it was also a time where I needed to quickly go back to my photography business to support my family, as we now had diapers to buy and just started building a restaurant from scratch. So I was shooting, being a full time mom, and working in and on the new resto. Nonstop.

Time flew by and I increasingly loved myself less and less. I did love being a mommy, but juggling motherhood with two jobs and a home to take care of on my own, it was really hard. I lost self confidence (and my relationship grew apart) as these days were on rinse and repeat for years on end. So I started to lose my identity as a human being and a woman. I was a mother and a business owner. I was also hurting from a distant and disloyal partner, but continued to fake it for the sake of it because we were new parents and business partners.

.....Then Covid. Ick.

.........Then we opened a second restaurant. Woah.

..............Then I lost my husband to the pull/demand of the restaurants and the people in them.

It was all too much and not enough. So I said, Enough!

Okay, stick with me here. The doom and gloom is over!

IT WAS THEN. It was in my greatest time of darkness that I finally saw the light, stood up, and reached for it.

The light was movement.

I started to move my body for my physical health and mental wellness.

I started to dance by candlelight in my living room at night. (I highly recommend this!)

I started to use my bicycle for fitness. And this I wanted to do more and more and more.

Bit by bit, I chipped away the sadness. My head felt clearer and my heart more at peace. My body healthier and fitter. I started to crave the escape of spending hours out on my bicycle, lost deep in my thoughtfully-curated (i.e. obsessively curated) Spotify playlist.

I was confident again and feeling happy. All was good with my newfound balance between work and mommy-ing and fitness. It felt great to be me again!

And then the unimagined happened: I met a man...the man... who from Day One brought so much love and light into my world. He made me feel like the most important and most beautiful woman on the planet (and he still does every day). Little did we know at first, but we share so much in common: photography, the love of the outdoors, snowboarding, hiking, dogs, bubble baths... and biking!

At that time, my cycling universe consisted of riding my very old and heavy Pelago bike or my clunky Kalkhoff e-Bike out to the Bois Boulogne (a foresty area outside of Paris with a bizarre and shocking array of prostitutes in vans!); up and down the Seine riverbank; to and from work; to and from my daughter's school; and/or in my apartment on my stationary bike using the Peloton app.

Then one day, thanks to the support and encouragement from my newfound love, I rode that clunky e-bike all the way to Versailles (40km/25miles). I was so very nervous - that I'd get lost, get a flat tire, get really really lost, or who knows what else...). But I did it. And let me tell you, the moment you get over a fear and/or accomplish a goal (especially as a grown woman!), it's thrilling.

I sat in the grass behind the Chateau and overlooked the Grand Canal with a huge smile on my face. That was fun!

From that day, my inner-cycling-demon/diva was unleashed! There were no limits anymore, and I wanted to escape Paris on a daily basis and venture here, there or anywhere. Mostly it was to Versailles and back via the peaceful and serene Meudon and Clamart forests. Mostly solo, but sometimes I was happily lead and encouraged by my cycling hero/love of my life. ;)

Oh, and I sold that e-bike and got a pretty purple Canyon gravel bike, whom I called REBEL. ;)

The love story that followed was akin to a pull-at-the-heartstrings-Hallmark movie film script. I was on Cloud Nine and walked around Paris with a smile on my face every day. The best days were the ones where I would drop off my girl to school, do a photo shoot or two and then hop on my beloved Rebel for two to three hours, then back to pick up my daughter from school and spend the evening together. All while falling in love with myself and the wonderful man who seemed to be falling for me, too.

Pedalling out of Paris and into the quiet forest was so calming and invigorating. Peaceful yet challenging. I fell countless times trying to go up steep bits of hill, but I always stood up smiling and would try again the next time. I don't fall too often anymore (progress!!). It sounds terribly cheesy, but that purple bike was bringing me so much joy and personal freedom. I liked me again. I loved my life again.

When I think or speak about the hardships I've gone through, I rephrase to say that I've grown through them.

Life has so many ups and down, as does cycling. But cycling through hard times has helped me be at peace with the past. It has opened up my heart in ways I could not imagine: I've cried tears of joy on the bike and balled tears of sorrow and despair. My Dance or Cycle Spotify playlist is 885 songs deep (54 hours and 29 minutes long!!) and each of those songs mean so much to me as they tell the story of my personal struggles and wins over the last few years.

Re-connecting with nature and quiet spaces grounds me and makes me revel in the glory and beauty of the world around me.

I now spend time off going to a little village in the Alps with my love. This place is like Heaven on Earth for me. I rest. I sleep. And together we hike, bike, snowboard, take long baths, surround ourselves with dogs, and soak up all the south-facing-morning-coffees-in-the-sun we can handle. My daughter loves it there, too (I just need to get her to love bikes as much as I do! At least she loves to ski.)

Remember just a few minutes ago when I told you about that first time I rode out to Versailles and it felt like I achieved the impossible? Well that same feeling happened again last summer. I got a gravel bike for the mountains and named her REVEL. (seeeee, Revel!!! I love reveling in all things beautiful, fun and adventurous!).

Up until then, I would borrow one of mon amour's several gravel, mountain or road bikes when I'd be in the mountains. But it was clear that my love for cycling was not waning, so I got myself a new companion to call my own.

It was a summer of love with the Paris Olympics in town, and together with my daughter we went Olympics-crazy and ran around the city seeing as much as we could. Together we saw the Women's Cycling Event fly by, and it was so inspiring. I'm in awe of female athletes and to see Olympic female cyclists was a dream! I pedaled with Rebel from Paris to Versailles and beyond. I paddle-boarded with my family in the mountains and took Revel out often.

And then there was the idea to do an end-of-summer Epic bike ride one day with my love*.

*He's been cycling his whole adult life, so he's a well-oiled-machine and an inspiration, among so much more. :)

And so voila: I did it. I DID IT.

I wanted to quit and go home several times that day. But I was far from home and in/on the middle of a mountain, so the only option was to keep going.

To grow through the physical and mental pain.

The last 10km or so was excruciatingly painful! I cried but tried to hide it. I was pedalling standing more than sitting. I wanted OFF.

And then, the happiest moment of the day was seeing our van in the parking lot. It was over! And I did it: yay! Time to go home, sit down with a glass of wine and have a hot bath to celebrate our Epic ride together.

On Strava I titled this ride: Big day on the bike…omg ☠️⚰️😅✨🌈🔥⚡️

87.62 kilometers (54.44 miles)

6:24 hours riding time

2,074 meters in elevation gain (6,084 feet)

What doesn't kill ya makes you stronger, right?! :)

This little blog post has turned into a very long story about my love of cycling and loving life really. So maybe I should end it here and leave the cycling love stories to continue on another day.

If there's anything I'd like to accomplish from writing this down, it would be for you - the ever-patient reader - to get a glimpse into my little life and see how cycling has helped me heal; helped me grow through heartache and trauma; and helped me become the best and happiest self I've ever been.

If you're struggling in your life at all, my advice would be: move. Move your body to heal your heart and clear your mind.

Go outside, move, and revel in your surroundings. You won't regret it.

With love and admiration,

Lindsey