I have a reasonably stressful job, and of course the usual trials and tribulations of life.

Stress-thoughts often manifest themselves mostly at night, either at bed time, or often at early morning times when my brain is still crunching through stuff and generally running ‘hot’. not all the time, but once or twice a week for sure.

Consistenly, if I focus my brain on thinking of riding favourite trails, on my favourite bike, then I can bring back equilibrium and be in a calm zone. Absolutely brings a smile to my face.

Wife and kids feature strongly as well, ultimate happy place is me thinking of family bike rides, taking ‘interesting’ trail features with my son whilst we’re out 🙂

Anyone else go into this zone?

Reason for asking, I’m in the office, got stuff going on, and just applied the thinking whilst reading STW to distract myself from some major decisions I have to make today 😉

and relaaaaaaaaaaaax

Absolutely. Happy hours where the only thoughts are “get up that b&^!$& hill” or “don’t hit that tree/rock”. Completely clears my head.

Absolutely.

If ever I have trouble sleeping due to a busy brain, I visualise riding one of my favourite trails and that usually works to take all the invasive thoughts away.

Think it helps that I use the actual riding in the same way, to get time where I don’t have to think about anything other than the trail, the countryside and having a laugh.

Said it on here before, MTB is a very Taoist thing for me.

I do the ‘riding a fave trail ‘ thing to distract myself from busy thoughts, often at night when trying to sleep. Only trouble is I get all excited and wake myself up more!

+1 Used to climb trails in Wales and sit on the top of hills breathing in life.

Pedalling the crazy away – my favourite description of what cycling does to me.

I have had stressful jobs in the past and it works. Last couple have been the opposite and incredibly dull – been in this one for just over a year and it’s not happening. No sales to support and the phone just doesn’t ring often enough.

Dull jobs are worse than being busy to me. Especially dull jobs with internet access where you can buy bike bits

My wife says she knows when I’m dreaming about riding. I don’t know the trail, but I’ve ridden it a few times.

Woooooosaaaaahhhhh. 🙂

Imagine the crushing situation of riding your favourite mountain, to your favourite spot only to be greeted by a huge panic attack. The exposure was too much during a hard time. Spent the next 3 years only being able to ride no more than 10 miles away from home at any time (local riding is fantastic thankfully). The biggest casualty of my anxiety was my window of freedom.
Thankfully I rode that mountain solo last summer, and was rewarded. Rewards I never take for granted anymore.

Riding my bikes in the woods is without a doubt my happy place. I get a pleasure from MTB that I do not get with anything else.
Totally immersed in the woodland on a bike that I either built myself or one that I know intimately.
Mrs Wachowchow often ejects me out the house with my bike as she is aware that too long without makes Jack a very dull boy indeed.

I do most of my daydreaming whilst pootling about, Have ridden predominantly MTB over the past 20 odd years, Occasionaly being in my happy place has been counter productive whilst hammering the technical stuff,

Usually stop riding in winter as it just becomes a nause with all the shit and muck, and cant be arsed filling up the car and driving to the Peaks, Wales, Scotland etc, So whilst i download on the pedals sometimes the before and after admin is a complete pain in the arse. So and as i’ve said umpteen times on here, I’ve ridden all Winter, On the road on my CX Bike. I’ve covered more Miles in 4 Months on that there STRAVA than i had in the previous 10 Months. i have been much better for it both Physically and Mentally.

I had the Option yesterday to drive an hour each way, ride 20 Odd miles round Jacobs ladder, Kinder, Shooting Lodges, Roych Clough and on OR 45 Miles Locally, I went Local.

I can’t think about riding bikes if I’m struggling to get to sleep. It gets me all excited and wakes me up more.

However, I daydream about riding bikes often, usually whilst gazing at the hills out the window…

An old boss once told me that he got wound up on bike rides as the long climbs gave him time to think about all the things that were stressing him out. I feel/felt very sorry for him. When I’m out on my bike, long climbs or not, the mental release is nearly always complete.

I can only echo what’s already been said. Out in the green, on my bike, with a clear sky, riding through sun dappled woodland.

I tried the Zen mantra of roadie pedal cadence, but that wasn’t for me. Mtbing forces everything else out due to the amount of information processing you have to do.

That’s what’s wrong with me at the minute, I think – not enough opportunities to get out in that “happy place” due to work, family commitments, shit weather and now illness. It never seems to end…
Although my wife and I did get out for a couple of hours hill walking yesterday, which is sometimes almost as good for me as riding, especially in winter.

I do, when I need to get to sleep.

Although not the technical stuff. I imagine I’m on an epic 12 hour trek somewhere. Sometimes it’s just the feel of the air on my face, the smell of the woodland or mountain, every tiny detail. That doesn’t have to be biking related though, I sometimes think of mountain climbing or just being out in the countryside.

Sometimes when I’m driving down the motorway I see a far hill and try and imagine me sitting on top of it, looking down at the cars snaking along in the distance and me sitting on the wet ground smelling the grass and leaves and so on. Also do this on planes.

Oh god yes. I mean, I’d find something else- it used to be motorbikes, now it’s pushbikes (and spannering)- but mountain biking’s really great for it, there’s all sorts of good feedback. Fresh air, exercise, time alone or company as you prefer, lots of brain chemicals…

I love that thing that sometimes happens, where you’ve got something you’re worried about- some decision, mostly, with me- and you go for a ride and without thinking about it you discover you know the answer. Your conscious brain gets cut out of the loop and the serious hardware sorts things out for you

I ended up pretty broken a couple of years back, work related stress… And I was kind of fending it off for a long time. I had a wee spell off the bike with a small injury and that had a huge contribution to me eventually caving in completely, I lost my blow-off valve.

Andy R – Member
That’s what’s wrong with me at the minute, I think – not enough opportunities to get out in that “happy place” due to work, family commitments, shit weather and now illness. It never seems to end…

Absolutely 100% link between MTB’ing and a mental happy place for me. I can also relate to the above: it’s really hard to balance the knowledge of this statement with the realities of family and working life.

As was said by someone in a family/child-themed feature in this esteemed magazine some years ago: “you have to lean on the soft bits of your life” in order to keep biking.

I did just that last weekend: I was out the door at 06:00 and back by 07:10, for a dark ride before I took the kids swimming. Felt amazing, having seen all kinds of deer, mice, cats, foxes and bats – while taking my usual local trails a little slower than usual!

For me it isnt MTBing for my happy thought space.

It’s usually hill walking, more recently around the Portes du Soleil – mountains I’ve climbed, or ones I’m visualising before I take them on over the next year or so.

More commonly though, since I recently took up archery, I find visualising a shot pops up in my mind when I drift to somewhere comforting. Sessions at the range just letting off a few gross of arrows is so therapeutic, especially if Im not always concentrating on accuracy. The feel and rhythm of a shot is v pleasant.

Completely. It is the most effective form of escapism I know.

Always.

I still periodically re-read this thread from years ago… not that I need reminding.

I find visualising a shot pops up in my mind

*lies very still.

Yes.
But I’ve not been out on the bike for some time now.

Keep out of my way! 👿

Completely. It is the most effective form of escapism I know.

Only rock climbing is more absorbing for me. Something about the intensity of the concentration means you think about pretty much nothing else for hours at a time.

All aspects of bikes are my happy place, riding, shopping, the locations, the people, everything.

It’s also where I exorcise any stresses from work, and there have been a lot recently. The chap I do most of my riding with can tell when I’ve had a shit week by the top of the first climb as I’ve left him for dead, usually making all kinds of grunting and growling noises 😈

I find thinking about riding at night can work either way.

Sometimes it helps me drift off, other times, I start planning rides in my head and trying to link up bits of trail. Then work out if I could ride them on my Arkose just as easily. Then when I can fit in the time to ride them….etc etc.

Still, it beats worrying about work.

More often than MTBing it’s motorbike trackdays that give me the release.

Although I can often get out more on the MTB than track due to expense.

Thought it was just me

Every time I am in a dentist chair – off to my happy place with mattock & MTB

I used to know a 93 year old for whom cycling was definitely his happy place, even though he couldn’t really do it any more. So many tales from back in the day!

It’s definitely my daydream place. Always involves a twisty bit in the woods!

I went out last night. After a stressful evening, for various reasons, I found myself wide awake at around 1am. So I got up and went for a ride. Nothing major, just a small pootle around the town I live in, but it helped massively, completely cleared my head of all negative thoughts. It has always been an escape for me, I don’t think it’ll ever not work.

Definitely! Singlespeeding even more so (for me anyway, I’m not saying it’s everyone’s cup of herbal infusion)- it’s a little bit zen, freeing and limiting at the same time. Swearing up hills is very cathartic 😀

Me! Most cycling, not just on the MTB.

If I’m struggling to sleep I mentally ride a trail I know really well. Asleep within seconds

It’s called flow. It’s a word used to describe a trail centre bermy trail but the masters of kung fu describe the point when everything you think is to do with the action, in this case mountain biking, you achieve flow. It’s extremely meditative and calming. It’s what brings people back time and time again to achieve flow.

It’s called flow. It’s a word used to describe a trail centre bermy trail but the masters of kung fu describe the point when everything you think is to do with the action, in this case mountain biking, you achieve flow. It’s extremely meditative and calming. It’s what brings people back time and time again to achieve flow.

I like that. Describes it very well. Actually I feel quite sorry for anyone who doesn’t get any “flow” in their lives.

My happy place.

Guessing she got the shoot cause she had the SPDs ?

Its my escapism.. Hop on your bike and leave all your daily humdrum shit and first world problems at home. If I start thinking about anything negative then I ride faster until the oxygen deprivation in my brain makes me not think about anything and just concentrate on breathing and ignoring the pain in my legs.

Much as I’d like it to be, cycling isn’t. Running is. For me, I either need to drive to mtb, or road ride. Road riding is stressful on it’s own, unless it’s the crack of sparrow fart on a sunny summer morning, and driving to mtb is a pain.

Running, I can just go out the door wherever and whenever I am, and get an hour of clearing my head.

I had forgotten that I used to do this 🙂

When my kid’s mum was pregnant with our second, I used to look forward to bed time so that I could ‘go for a ride’

Mountain biking is very much a happy place. Having just gone through a breakup of sorts, mountain biking is pretty much the only time I feel at peace. I wake most nights due to a variety of stressful thoughts, imagining that I’m tipping into the first corner on a favourite trail starts to calm me down. 🙂

samunkim – Member

My happy place.

Guessing she got the shoot cause she had the SPDs ?

She needs high heels, not spuds. 😉

For me it’s the place I can forget the rest of the world. Air, space, me, the trail. It can bring incredible calm and peace.

It used to be. Especially when I was going through divorce/business failure together.
CBA with much ATM.

Check it ‘flow theory’ on Wikipedia , I can never remember how to spell that Hungarian’s name.