Ronald L Barnett

October 7, 2021

Why I Bike Single Track Trails

I’m a low risk biker on single track dirt trails. How so low risk? I spend much more time on the ground vs. in the air. Nonetheless there are benefits. Here they are:

- acquiring physical exercise
- gaining practice in repeated micro judgement and decision making including risk perception, e.g. what to do with this upcoming rock garden, rocks, roots ?
- enhancing balance
- enhancing eye/hand coordination
- providing inherent interval training (HIIT), i.e. go downhill then uphill
- providing practice in identifying a “line” among rocks, roots, etc. and following it, i.e. developing and executing a plan
- immersing in Nature, e.g. forest bathing
- encountering the unknown. 



About Ronald L Barnett

I moved to Substack and renamed to Contemplation Across the Lifespan on 2/2025. Hope to see you there. - Ron

Welcome to Hey World - a home for my writings, much of it autobiographically-inspired. My hope is that they entertain, educate, and inspire. I’m simpatico with Enid Sinclair who told Wednesday Addams, ‘’I write in my voice. It’s my truth!” I hope you enjoy them. And if you subscribe and have comments, I’d love to hear from you.

I received the Doctorate in Psychology (concentration in human cognition and learning) and after 5 years working as a community-based mental health clinician, I worked in medical research with the National Institutes of Health for the remainder of my career.

I served Contemplative Outreach, Ltd. (CO) as a teacher, group facilitator, retreat leader, Chapter Coordinator, Board Member and Trustee and taught with The Miksang Institute for Contemplative Photography.

As of 2020 I retired, hosted the podcast All Things Contemplative, and still volunteer with CO. I also facilitate Charis Circles with the Charis Foundation for the New Monasticism and Interspirituality - and enjoy information technologies, photography, nature, swimming, biking, and kayaking.

All photos © 2025 Ronald Barnett. Use with permission.

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ronald.barnett
Miksang Contemplative Photography https://ronaldbarnett.smugmug.com
All Things Contemplative Podcast https://allthingscontemplative.buzzsprout.com/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/rbarnett7/
Lifespring - early blog 2009-2020 https://lifespring.posthaven.com/