A ride on a 50-foot sailboat on a pleasantly windy and sunny day floating among waves that lull you by granting a gentle roll...the expanse of the sea with its quiet movement in a dynamic perennial stasis...the coastline and islands that you caress with your gaze by helming, caulking or adjusting the sails...what does all this have to do with a bike tour of the Dolomites may be on someone's mind.
Different means, different physical aptitudes, different nature...yes and no but this is of little relevance because it is enough to identify with the sensations, with the majesty of nature, with the sense of joy and peace that comes from the senses captured by being immersed in these contexts that one immediately intuits how everything is similar, how everything has the same force, how everything releases the same strong and enveloping emotions.
Cycling and sailing are much more similar than it appears at a superficial glance...both are both individual and team sports...both bind man and medium in an indissoluble union where one helps and supports the other in relaxation or extreme exertion...both are immersed in and, at times, in struggle, in challenge with themselves and with nature...with that part of nature that is most immense and sublime that makes one feel and admire its greatness as only in a painting or a photo of extreme quality can one glimpse and grasp it.
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