When I reconnected with cycling a few years ago, almost 40 years after those first rides on my Francia, I once again had that visceral sense of connecting directly with my hometown and its old neighborhoods, red brick buildings, asphalt roads and secret pathways known only to us on two wheels—the “hidden city.”
Nowadays, these kinds of rides are called urban exploration, where the idea is just to keep following streets and roads you don’t recognize, and if some overgrown byway shows up—better yet if it’s gravel—by all means you take it.
These kinds of rides show you what hides in plain sight. As I live in Dallas, I am still struck by the forgotten surface streets where remnants of the early 20th century still remain—a testament to a town totally different than the giant modern city it’s become.
If you’ve never undertaken something like this, you don’t need a fancy commuter ride. Just get out your mountain bike or fit your road bike with a set of heavier wheels and gravel tires and plan a day to start early and come home late.
You’ll want something to eat, drink, a small amount of cash and your cell phone. Expect to stop and look around. However, what you won’t need is a plan, or a workout or training goal. This is a different kind of cycling—one where your only commitments are to avoid any of your customary routes, take your time and ride slow enough to look around and be ready to see the city hiding in plain sight.
Get ready to be surprised, and enjoy your bike like you did when you were a kid riding to school for the first time. It really is a magic carpet.
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