Cycle Your Heart Out... for the Future! Route 50

​Follow your heart​
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There’s a beautiful quote by bicycle author & designer Grant Petersen that says;
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“Think of bicycles as rideable art that can just about save the world”.
 I first heard it in Rio, Brazil when I was creating my 27th heart-route back in 2018.
In this post I’ll be sharing a pretty crazy story about how that quote sort of comes true...

Heart-route number 50 is rather different from my other routes, as the idea for it actually came from my future 100 yr old self! Apparently I ended up in the 23rd century, and was a guest on a podcast called ‘Tests from the Future’. Simon and Dirk started their unique show when they discovered they were able to actually send episodes back in time!

It was incredible to hear that the Cycle Your Heart Out movement still exists in the year 2223! An  annual event called the ‘World Heart Relay’ ended up creating millions of heartful cyclists over the centuries, which amazingly led to a more peaceful,  loving world!

Keep reading to find out what the ‘World Heart Relay’ is all about, and how heartful cycling may be able to help save the world...​​

Being a Heartful Cyclist is about feeling empowered to cycle a heart-route, embrace the present moment, and ride home, to your true self. It's about listening to your heart with deep compassion, allowing your love to spin out from under you, on to all those around you, for a more peaceful, loving world. 

According to my future self,

"Every 2nd of July people create a bicycle heart-route, and then they cycle and tag the next country physically if they can, to inspire them to create a heart-route too. The idea behind this was to help the ripple effect to organically spread as much loving energy around the world as possible”.

I got goosebumps listening, as it gave me so much hope for the future. I've actually always dreamed of starting the ‘World Heart Relay’ ever since I created Cycle Your Heart Out back in 2011, but logistics used to always stop me. 

Thankfully after 12 years, I realised I'm not necessarily meant to be a leader, I'm more of an innovator. My role is to continue to plant the idea, the heart routes in the world, and let it flourish and spread naturally.

In the episode they also talk about hoverbikes, 3D heart routes, skydiving through portals, and the frozen rumour that involved a romantic mystery person…  

​To help prepare for the 2024 World Heart Relay my future self told me to create a route, in a city very close to my heart. I'm now going to share Heart-Route 50 with you, and all the highlights along the way!

Whenever I create my routes I like to do my inner ride meditation first so I can connect to my heart, my intuition,  and write down an intention for it. For this route I simply wrote:

Cycle your heart out… for the future   

I chose this intention as the whole purpose of the heart-relay is to create a more peaceful, loving world!

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Location 

I created the route in Milton Keynes as it’s where I grew up. It's also where I made my 1st official heart-route back on July 2nd 2011. 

Milton Keynes is a City about a 1 hour drive north of London. It's loaded with over 270 km of bicycle paths all separated from the main road, and is a true cycling paradise!

If you're in Milton Keynes, make sure you check out these great cycling links below.

http://www.citizensmk.org.uk/campaigns/cycling-citizensmk/events/
https://getaroundmk.org.uk/cycling
https://www.letsride.co.uk/groups/milton-keynes-breeze

Heart Route

To make the heart-route I actually altered my 2012 Christmas route, so it looked a bit more ‘heart-shaped’. It’s currently one of my favourite routes in Milton Keynes as it goes past so many of my favourite places! It’s also just under 6 km and relatively flat, so it’s suitable for most people to ride. 

Length  - 3.71 miles 5.97km 
Click to view the map

Cycle Your Heart Out

I'm so happy to be sharing this route with you! Since I created it I've so far enjoyed riding it with friends from Barcelona, Cape Town and Milton Keynes.

Just before I ride, I like to read my heart-route intention out loud, to release its loving energy along the route. I then use the Strava, Komoot & Relive app to make sure I capture the rides GPS heart art!

Here are some of the highlights…

-Celebrating the start of the ride with some silent disco dancing at the Campbell Park hill, right next to the Light Pyramid. I used to roll down this hill as a child, so I’ve got lots of fond memories up here. It’s also just a short ride away from the start of the heart-route.

- Willen Lake Peace Pagoda - Is one of my favourite places along the route, and is also a stunning spot to watch the sunrise. Surrounded by 1,000 cedar and cherry trees, you’ll also find the ‘One World Tree’ here, where people leave prayers and messages of hope for loved ones they’ve lost. 
- Japanese Gardens -  Is such a peaceful spot to relax and journal.
- Willen Hospice  - My great gran passed away here, so I love sitting on their garden bench as I always feel she’s sitting there with me.
- Canal St Cafe in Campbell Wharf is a lovely Neighbourhood café, and is also dog friendly! Me and Maya love coming here, especially when the sun is shining as it has outdoor seating, and the views of the canal are stunning
- Trek Bicycles are next door, which is very handy incase you get a puncture along the route

Poem

Below is a poem I wrote for my 42nd heart route in Barcelona, at a time when I felt lonely, disconnected & isolated from the world. 

Writing it reminded me of all the loving people already in my life, and how much I wanted to grow my heartful community.​

​INNER RIDE QUESTION

Today’s inner ride question is…

If you could meet your future self, what advice do you think they’d give you? 
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What one tiny step can you take towards it today?

Spread the love

I’m so grateful for you being here, if today’s post has inspired you to become a heartful cyclist,
CLICK HERE to find out more. Remember to add the 2nd July 2024 in your calendar so you can take part in the 1st ever World Heart Relay!

To help you create more peace, joy and compassion for yourself, others, and the world, listen to my
​'Heartful Garden' meditation here.

Listen to episode 130 from Tests From The Future to hear what Simon, Dirk and my future 100 yr old self have to say about the future at www.testsfromthefuture.com 
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Do you believe in time travel too?

I've always loved the idea that it could be possible. Actually, I love anything to do with space and time.  Two of my favourite movies are Back To The Future 2 and Interstellar!

​Feel free to share yours with me in the comments!

My wish for you is love, so much love that it spins out from under you, on to all of those around you. Your wheels are your paint, and the world is your canvas!

Love Sarah x​

Become a Heartful Cyclist