Aw Ace, don't spoil it!!!
I don't remember if I posted this before here, and I'm too lazy to look, but I definitely find that riding gives me a freedom - not to enjoy the scenery, which I don't do very well while I'm under way, but the freedom to think only about the riding I'm doing in the moment. It's a time I can not be thinking about anything else, which can be a wonderful therapy. And, there is nothing else I do which gives me that.
Even for my short commute to work - by car I arrive half-asleep and bored. But by bike, by the time I leave my driveway, I've already forgotten that I'm even going to work, and I just get to focus on the task at hand. I arrive at work awake and energized (and not wanting to stop, but that's another problem altogether!
).