avvoltoi

Pronti al giudizio, come avvoltoi che a cerchi volano sopra la preda per poi venirti addosso con una scarica di domande. Ammaestrati a non vivere; obbediscono e non si chiedono mai a che cosa. L' obiettivo finale e' seguire la massa, l'enorme movimento di burattini, lo sbriciolarsi delle individualita', l'ammassarsi sotto un'unica bandiera. E fanno domande, pressanti vogliono sapere, devono riassicurasi che anche tu sia come loro. Giudicano perche' credono di possedere il metro di misura, questo e' giusto quello no. Guarda in cielo lo scorrere calmo delle nuvole. Sembra un grosso fiume al contrario, azzurro. Manuel Roca e' incantato dalle varie forme delle nuvole; crea immagini, storie, dialoghi. Vorrebbe prendere parte a questa conversazione, dire la sua, unire le idee, contribuire al dialogo. Guarda in faccia la gente Manuel Roca e vede occhi che han visto e rivisto le stesse cose. Stanchi, gli occhi riempiti di schermi televisivi. Menti stordite da pillole anestetizzanti di informazione che mutilano l'intelletto. Sono loro che si permettono di dar giudizio. Guarda le gambe della gente Manuel Roca e legge la fatica dei loro passi. Il muoversi lento di corpi stanchi, guidati, condotti, costretti a certi movimenti. Guarda dentro le teste della gente e vede i soliti pensieri, triti e ritriti. L'orgoglio di una testa indipendente, pensante, che ragiona da sola. Il concedersi allo svago che piu' gli piace, la creazione di spazi mentali che diventano poi fisici dove e' libero di vagabondare a piacere. Trattiene il fiato, fissa un punto che forse non c'e'; il pensiero corre veloce sul filo invisibile che si unisce al mondo di tutti i pensieri. Sbuffa ora, aria stanca di un luogo chiuso. Cambia l'immagine nello schermo, la luna non e' ancora un sorriso nel cielo. Il sole manda raggi che sono frustate, gli occhi incontrano l'orizzonte lontano.

Volge lo sguardo dall'altra parte, sul sordo oblio che tutte le cose avvolge, il baratro del tempo infinito, la vanità di tutto quel gran rimbombo, la superficialità di tutti coloro che sembrano applaudire... Insomma tieni sempre a mente quel ritiro che ha a sua disposizione in questo suo proprio campicello. Il valore della propria immaginazione. Il suo valore Manuel Roca lo misura col valore delle cose a cui da importanza. Lo strillare inutile di politicanti, soubrette e paggetti non lo toccano.

Übermensch

...and from answers grew new questions and new investigations; until at last I had a land of my own and a soil of my own, a whole secret world growing and flowering, like hidden gardens of whose existence no one could have an inkling - oh, how happy is Manuel Roca, he searcher of knowledge.
Manuel Roca is heavily into investigation, elaboration, meditation; philosophising. To stare right into the eyes of mystery takes lots of courage, he maintains. There, a new and unexplored world is met, one where ideals are stripped bare from manufactured suits. It is the land upon which philosophers rumble as they cram their mind with challenging thoughts. Led by curiosity Manuel Roca walks on high ground where air is fine and smells sweet Nature. He crosses tortuous terrains where his mental stability is badly put to the test. His creeds start shaking severely up to the point they crumble down to the floor turning into unusable ruins. Rubbles and debris are now to be removed to make room for new constructions where new beliefs will inhabit. A brand new world is rising where deceivers will be banned from. The weak ones; those who promise another life other than the earthly one, those who maintain that by producing more the economy can get out of the global crisis, those who refuse to walk on the rope running over the abyss and permitting men to become supermen, those who still act as beasts amongst the beasts, those who move along with the herd.
...he is unknown, Manuel Roca to himself. Never has he searched for himself, how should he ever find himself? As far as his life is concerned has Manuel Roca had sufficient serious interest? Or sufficient time? Through what has he in point of fact just lived? Who Manuel Roca is in point of fact? Of necessity he remained stranger to himself. Time has come to start the research.

Poet

Manuel Roca revaluates the calendar. Two days from the end of August; for him, the very end of the year. The herd celebrates New Year’s Eve on the 1st of January; Manuel Roca does it on the 1st of September. The year culminates at the end of summer. Like reaching an orgasm, it is an escalating flow of events that terminates on the 31st of August. Soon, the leaves will start falling from the trees. The wind will toss them in the air. Melancholy, he likes. The gathering of memories and living tightly related with a reality tasting of dream. All is now exaggeratedly extraordinary. Life is certainly tough, painful and at times humiliating but, besides the physical exercise that constitutes a truthful goal, it turns into a valuable source of initiative, action and courage: it teaches not to count on anybody or anything which is extraneous to the ambience naturalness but to rely only on one’s self, bare as one is. All of this just in order to reach the coveted personal goal. Manuel Roca is prey to doubt, to pessimism, slave of anxiety: 3 invisible monsters that day by day seem to devour him. The sensation of being on this planet to do something important which he cannot fully perceive. What is it doing here, on earth? Sometimes, the idea of wasting his time invades his tranquil land. He must possess a talent, an ability to express; everybody has at least one that renders us individual. The motif of his presence here, the sense of life, a good reason to keep on fighting or simply breathe to survive. Sincerely, he is not sure to be happy or not, surely he has liberated himself from lots of useless things he used to think important. Reading, watching movies, listening to music, remaining sat in silent. He takes pleasure with the company of his new imaginary friends. It occurs very often that Manuel Roca is more in syntony and intimacy with writers, film directors, poets and musicians than with people that have known for many years. Some books lines, movies dialogues or song lyrics seem to echo his inner voice. He lives isolated but never on his own. He is surrounded by people that interact with him via their works, their art masterpieces.

Jean-Paul Sartre

It is difficult to come up with two human activities which are more different than cycling and writing. The former implies physical action, whereas the latter involves mental commitment. However, in the opinion of Lucio Royas there is a connecting thread tightening the two; the sense of freedom they guarantee. As a cyclist, he feels free to choose routes, intensity and companions. This is pure luxury in a world where people are bound to respect and submit to an endless number of laws and rules. As for writing, Lucio Royas enjoys the freedom of juggling with words to transfer on paper all is going on in his head. Writing is when he does not have to allow notions he inherited to take him over. Writing is trying to think things up for himself. Writing is his form of resistance to the taken for granted and to the conventional. Jean-Paul Sartre maintained that people are condemned to be free. Condemned, because man did not create himself and from the moment he is thrown into this world he is responsible for all he does. Being responsible for all his future actions, Lucio Royas feels condemned to cycle and write.
Lucio Royas is convinced that mankind will not inhabit planet earth soon. It appeared millions of years ago purely by chance and, in his opinion, will not survive for very long. For that reason, he would like to feel sad but, deep down he likes seeing how it is exterminating itself. Probably, if he was born in a less defeatist world, he would not enjoy his existence so much. Or, perhaps he would not be the same sort of person. Considering himself diverse and out of the pre-imposed schemes cramming people everyday lives make him feel content. Yet, there are issues with his personality he would like to change and that he will work upon little by little. He loves being able to model those features, amend elements he does not like, create mental environments in which to imagine living. For him, reality is what he creates in his mind, and in his mind he has originated a personal reality. The limits are what surrounds him, nevertheless, also these are modifiable. Often, he asks himself whether his thoughts can be objectively deemed as being better than those going on in the majority of people’s mind. The answer is yes. His thoughts are authentic since generated by his proper mind and therefore free from all the pre-established thoughts inflicted upon people by powerful and controlling lobbies such as religions, politics and Media. In his view, these institutions secretly teach people the way to think and act creating a reality which eventually favours the maintenance of the institutions themselves.

Arctic polar circle

Most of the times, Manuel Rocal pedals in solitude. Often, he feels the necessity to question himself and meditate over various issues. First of all, on the extreme need to return to a more human dimension since he is convinced to have abandoned it due to this over technological world. Furthermore, he reflects on the obligation to adopt a respectful attitude towards the greatness and uniqueness of Nature. Without a shadow of a doubt, questioning and meditating serve to maintain his physical and intellectual well-being in good form. These mental exercises permit Manuel Roca to know his more hidden thoughts, to speak to his soul and, to reflect over some already taken decisions and some completed works. Manuel Roca has chosen to live in agreement with his very way of being that is generally diverse from the forms of life that are frequently proposed and imposed upon people. Surrounded by immense silence, in the infinite open spaces of his mind, Manuel Roca has found his reason of being, a manner to live which is within his human measures. People have rapidly drawn away from the umbilical cord that unites them to Mother Nature making them feel bewildered. Manuel Roca does not need to travel to Amazonia or to the Arctic Polar Circle to experience open spaces, wilderness and quietness; he is inclined to believe that immense spaces are within his mind. It is there where he wants to produce travelling, discovering and exploring sceneries. The beauty of adventure is to dream of it, to free imagination in such a way as to attempt to create the best possible reality in which to live. For this reason, fantasy needs escorting him at all time to generate inside his head a gorgeous reflexion of what happens around him. In other words, the ugliness Manuel Roca sees every day which he does not like is transformed in an attractive condition. Cheating is the only way he knows to survive.

Luigi Masetti

Come da programma, Manuel Roca e' salito in bici alle 5 e 50 di mattina. Il sole, ancora basso in cielo, bucava ogni tanto una fine coltre di nuvole bianche. Compagno di viaggio di Manuel Roca e' il computerino attaccato al manubrio che gli da un po' d'informazione riguardanti l'uscita. Per esempio, mostra Km fatti, media, tempo impiegato, altitudine, temperatura ed altro. Obiettivo di Manuel Roca oggi era quello di non guardare nessuno di questi parametri ma volersi regolare unicamente sull'orario di ritorno che aveva fissato per le 10 e 30. Alla fine cosi e' stato, Manuel Roca rientrava in casa appena dopo l'orario prestabilito, stanco ma contento. All'inizio dell'uscita si sentiva molto stanco, o meglio, assonnato. Credeva a una di quelle giornate 'no' in cui le gambe non ne vogliono sapere affatto di portarti in giro ma pian piano le cose sono migliorate e Manuel Roca ha finito in crescendo anche se non ha mai spinto a fondo perche' domani il programma prevede una giornata ancora piu' lunga. Le strade percorse erano praticamente senza traffico facendo godere Manuel Roca di quella tranquillita' dove puo' rincorrere i propri pensieri mentre le gambe mulinano sui pedali e smuovono le ruote, cancellando tempo e spazio. E' questo il vero scopo che stimola Manuel Roca inducendolo sulla strada quando ancora tutti dormono. Si sente un poeta sulla bicicletta, un'anarchico delle due ruote, il filosofo di una vita che ammira percorrere lentamente, pedalata dopo pedalata. Si ritiene un eroe della bicicletta con lo sguardo spalancato sul mondo che con lentezza gli succede attorno aiutandolo a superare l'inerzia quotidiana. E' eroe quando trova vento o pioggia, quando fatica su salite mozzafiato o quando si tuffa in discese strabilianti. Ama la fatica fatta per scelta, quel sapore di antico in questa vita, a volte, troppo comoda. Adora faticare sui pedali come altri faticano nei campi, nelle fabbriche o nelle miniere. Manuel Roca ha l'esercizio nella testa quanto nelle gambe e sopratutto nel cuore. Conosce poche persone 'imprigionato' da stessa passione che a volte diventa un ossessione. Un chiodo fisso che gli permette di vivere in buona salute, assecondandelo nell'apprezzamento della vita di tutti i giorni, di gustare di paesaggi che non potrebbe ammirare seduto su di un divano o al tavolo di un pub. In bicicletta tutto diventa metafora, Manuel Roca e' una creatura rilucente che taglia lo spazio e il tempo, che scatta in piedi ai pedali appena la strada s'impenna verso la disperata salita. Ha diverse foto che lo ritraggono a cavallo della sua bici. Parlano dello sforzo fatto per stantuffare i pedali, delle buche come crateri da evitare per strada e di traguardi che non son altro che i suoi sogni.

A casa Manuel Roca ha ripreso la lettura del libro che parla di Luigi Masetti, L'anarchico delle due ruote. Incredibile personaggio che ancora prima del cambio del secolo scorso ha viaggiato il mondo su di un bicicletto. Un vero eroe delle due ruote che l'hanno portato a toccare l'America, l'Asia e tutta l'Europa su strade che erano qualcosa lontano anni luce dalle strade asfaltate dei giorni d'oggi. Un vero libro d'ispirazione per Manuel Roca che sempre piu' si infervorisce per questi personaggi mitici che escono completamente dagli schemi sembrando ai piu' dei matti. Proprio come gli piace essere pensato dagl'altri. Manuel Roca, quello che si sveglia alle 5 della mattina per passare delle gradevoli ore in sella alla sua bici. Quello che ad una ragazza preferisce ore in solitudine a costruire pensieri e filosofie come ragnatele che tesse con passione. Idee e modi di vedere discordanti da quelli che sono i modelli seguiti dalla massa. A Manuel Roca piace considerarsi cosi, nello stesso modo in cui Luigi Masetti piaceva vivere sulle strade di mezzo mondo. Manuel Roca non avrebbe idolatrato Luigi Masetti perche' non gli piace proprio l'atto di idolatrare le persone ma sicuramente gli sarebbe piaciuto far qualche km al suo fianco per farsi aiutare, anche solo per pochi minuti, a tessere la ragnatela della sua filosofia di vita, in bici.

The cycling Sisyphus

Manuel Roca scrive qualcosa d’assurdo.
The book-length essay 'The Myth of Sisyphus' is Albert Camus’s statement on the philosophy of the absurd. What the French thinker attempt to do is to cast some light on what, he considers, the most important of all the philosophical questions: ‘judging whether life is or is not worth living’. He maintains that human condition is filled with meaninglessness and therefore wonders whether people should commit suicide to escape this absurdity? Stating that ‘at any corner the feeling of absurdity can strike any man in the face’, Camus is referring to the constant repetition of men everyday existence, ‘the acts of mechanical life’ as he puts it. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday… Waking up, going to work, dinner… All the same thing day in day out. But, Camus believes that when men begin to get awareness of this tragic situation, would also get confronted by ‘the impulse of consciousness’ which will spark two options. The first one is the refusal of life and the suicide resolution, whereas the second one sustains rebellion and rejection of death. Of course, Camus supports the second choice suggesting that the recognition of this tragic existence will be the solution to overcome absurdity. In other words, men must incorporate into the absurd to justify their existence after having acknowledged ‘the impossibility of reducing this world to a rational and reasonable principle’. In addition, he states that, ‘from the moment absurdity is recognized, it becomes a passion, the most harrowing of all.’ It is only by taking the absurd seriously and acknowledging the conflict between the human desire to give sense to existence and the failure to do so that permits the overcome of this contradiction. This is the very gesture of revolt men need undertaking in order to turn the absurd into passion.
Manuel Roca finisce di leggere e pensa alla sua bici. Non e’ assurda tutta quella fatica fatta per nessun motivo apparente? Camus direbbe di no. Manuel Roca e’ un vero rivoluzionario. Non solo accetta l’assurdita’ della vita ma si ribella a questa macinando chilometri, day in day out.