Davide la Locomotive

What does freedom actually feel like?
For me, it began with a crash and ended in flight.

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My earliest memory is from when I was five.
I fell off my bike and slid along the ground on my face.
It was the day before my first day at primary school.

It didn’t put me off cycling.

It was my fault—I was trying to scratch my nose, but I’d never ridden one-handed before.
I thought I could just let go of the handlebars… but I didn’t know how to steer one-handed.

Spoiler: I couldn’t control the bike.
So I crashed.

I couldn’t wait to get back on and learn how to ride one-handed.

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Ever since I was young, I’ve loved cycling.
I think it’s in my blood.

I could go where I wanted.
When I wanted.
As fast as I wanted.
People could tell me to slow down.
I ignored them.

That was my first experience of freedom:
being in control of my bike—and what I did with it.

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Then I got good.
Really good.

I trained. I raced. I pushed myself.
Twenty years of riding six days a week.

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Recently, I noticed something had changed.

I realised that I don’t think about controlling my bike anymore.
It just… happens.

I don’t think about avoiding potholes or which gear I’m in.
I’ve ridden so much, it all happens subconsciously now.
My body knows what to do—I don’t need to tell it.

I just focus on how fast I want to go, and which direction.

I swoop through corners at 70km/h without thinking.
I ride,
I glide,
I dive,
I fly.

My bike has become part of me.

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I didn’t set out to master anything.
I just loved to ride.
But somewhere along the way…
the control faded.
And the real freedom showed up.

That’s freedom through fluency.

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Freedom is in riding,
Real freedom is gliding.

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