Qicycle

Spelled ch'i-cycle in the old Wade-Giles system, prounounced CHEE-sick-uhl, as if the makers of popsicles and creamsicles came out with a cheddar-flavored frozen treat on a stick! But no, it can't be found in the frozen food section because it was last seen making a left turn onto Plumb Road from Old 3C.

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's just some guy on a bike pulling in and pushing out the life-force of the universe.

The other day I made an interesting discovery that has the potential to change my workouts significantly. I found out I can practice qigong (ch'i-kung) while riding a bike! In effect, I can grasp two sparrows with one stone, so to speak, and work out more kinks than I could before by doing a little self-healing while two-wheeling.

It's not like Madame Curie discovering radium, or Signor Columbo disovering Amerika, or Sir Isaac Newton discovering the laws of thermodynamics, but it will do for a Sunday afternoon in central swingstate. And among the millions of practitioners, Eastern and Western, who have done qigong, I'm sure a few have tried it on their Huffy, their Raleigh, their Trek, their Cannondale, or their Motobecane.

Notwithstanding all that, and keeping things in humble perspective, it felt like a a bit of a breakthrough when a little arm stretch out to both sides, kind of like wings extending from the shoulderblades, turned into a full-blown round of "Lift Qi Up, Pour Qi Down" while cruising up Tussic Road on my black Schwinn, Schvin.

But when I shared my insight with some friends at our Thursday night class, they were like "Uh-oh, we're gonna read about you in the paper one of these days." Not to worry, I'll be careful. Yes, you have to go no-handed to really do this, and I only go no-handed on smooth stretches of road or trail with minimal turns and traffic anyway, so it's not that different. I'll try to use common sense and not get too carried away with the sheer awesomeness of it.