presents
Juan Carlos Kreimer
THE BICICLE EFFECT
Urban Cycling as Meditation
To be published by Editorial Kairós Barcelona, Spring 2016 Aprox. 170 pages
The bicycle is not only a vehicle used to transport ourselves, to move the body or to obtain joy. It´s a device which allows us to attain a much wealthier mental state than you would think possible. Once we ride it, it´s possible to experience a feeling close to that achieved by meditation. The movements of the legs, the energy which arises through the body, the cadence of our breathing and the floating attention on what’s happening around us and in our mind, create a similar state to the one we achieve when we sit crossed legged, with our eyes closed and we allow the thoughts to relax simply and naturally. Zen calls it mindfulness.
Argentinean writer and editor Juan Carlos Kreimer learned to ride a bike nearly at in the same days he made his first steps. From then he has always used bicycles to travel throughout Buenos Aires, New York, Paris, London, Rio de Janeiro and other cities where that he has called home. Actually, at 69, he continues pedalling around 20/30 miles a day. From 1982, when he started his Zen practices and began to meditate regularly, he found a strong relation between both practices. THE BIKE EFFECT - Urban Cycling as Meditation, his latest book, offers all the elements necessary to be able to understand what happens in our body, mind and area’s words can´t describe. Once we mount and start to ride our bicycle, experience is the only thing that counts. The first part of the book I covers the bike boom and the opportunities it is creating in cities and culture. The second part is about the deeper sense of cycling and its links with Zen attitudes, and part three explains the best ways to practice cycling and rules to follow. Finally, Juan Carlos Kreimer tells his own story as a cyclist and the ways he understands Zen doctrine and how he puts it into practice every day.
Juan Carlos Kreimer was born in Buenos Aires in 1944. He engages in cultural journalism, writes and publishes. His books on rock were the first to be published in Spanish: Beatles & Co. (1968), Agarrate! (1970), Punk la muerte joven (1978). In 1982 he founded and, for twelve years, directed the magazine Uno Mismo. He is the author of ¿Cómo lo escribo? (1981), Contracultura para principiantes, El varón sagrado, Rehacerse hombres, and of three novels: Todos lo sabíamos, El río y el mar and ¿Quién lo hará posible? Since 1995, he has been directing the series Para Principiantes (Era Naciente) and Novela Gráfica (De La Flor)
Contents Introduction A beautiful feeling of no-thing FIRST PART There’s a lot of bike to ride Chapter one The urban cyclist • Ancestors of the rolling • Objects of cult • Network consciousness • The untransferable • Sweat the bike • The city as location • The invisible community • Blowing in the wind SECOND PART I celebrate the bike within you Chapter one Driving • Pedaling and gazing • The eternal present • Getting in contact • Not going any further • The fitting point • Letting it happen • No intention • A conscious practice Chapter two Wake up, energy! • Aligning yourself with the bicycle • Learning how to learn • Sitting on the belly
Chapter three Person bike road • The pre-verbal conscience • Desidentifying oneself • Everything is as much That as can be • Everyday life as road • The destiny is nowhere THIRD PART Rules of experience Chapter one Right riding • Pedaling • Look and provide • Breathing Chapter two Going-watching • An internal code Chapter three Maintenance by inference • Taking care of it is taking care of me • The logics of inference Epilogue • My seven bikes • A lay Zen Index Bibliography Acknowledgments The author
Rights sold: World-ES: Editorial Kairós, Barcelona Italy: Rayuela Edizioni, Milano Turkey: Habitus Kitap, Istanbul All other rights: still available
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