I was out yesterday afternoon and caught myself thinking about what I was/had been thinking about. Answer, nothing I could put my finger on. Just unconscious autopilot.
What a great feeling and a great reason to ride.
same
1000 different things from nothing to really technical work problems to how come I'm still in a head wind after 6 turns.
Usually the trail I am on, what's coming up next, how should I tackle it, what route to take next etc, better than work and other real life stuff
Oh yeah, that permanent headwind thing....
Life stuff on the ups and flats...not going OTB on the downs
Being in the moment. 8)
Both biking and skiing.... In the Now. Nothing better 😀
Usually...
Nothing, and then I remember I am riding a singlespeed and try to work out when I started choosing to ride it over my geared bike, when it stopped being a sufferfest, and when I stopped checking how many mates were going to share the suffering 🙂
...and the laserbeamcock thing when going downhill...
Sadly my thoughts keep returning to "I remember when this was all singletrack" and "going around the puddle only makes the puddle bigger" and "what idiot can't take an empty gel packet home or to the nearest bin?"
Depends
On a long hard climb, I tend to think of a hot soapy *
Seems to take my mind off the pain for a while
I tend to come up with solutions and ideas when riding, then forget half them by the time I get home.
Tis' great for clearing the head though.
Legs hurt legs hurt legs hurt.
On longer rides, I tend to start fantasing about massive roast dinners at about the 6 hr mark.
I resist the urge to think, I just try to zone out from all the cr4p going on.
Each ride is an escape.
Mostly how I'm going to keep up with the group, then how much more can this hur,t finally how far to the pub!
I always think: "this trail would be so much better on a different bike".
"oh *, oh *ing *ity *"
Boobs
Nothing but the trail when I'm on my mountain bike 🙂
On the road bike/commuter it's usually what jobs need doing when I get off the bike and that there constant headwind thingy... 😕
Mostly boobs. 🙂
MTB - very little
Road - all sorts of random things until I get to something steep up/down then it's either 100% focus on the pain or the road
Normally think about food! Also get awful random songs pop up in my head and stay there on a loop, usually whilst going up hill.
What to call my ride on Strava
For me, it doesn't matter what I'm thinking about, the real reason I go mountain biking is because of the stuff I [i][u]don't[/i][/u] think about while I'm doing it.
I've had some of my best ideas* on the commute ride home.
*But all pretty rubbish.
Normally I wonder how I can still be this crap at riding a MTB, oh and the headwind thing 😉
Can I go faster
Uphill - shut up legs
Downhill - hope my forks don't break
Flat - this is fun
everything or nothing.
🙂 yep I know that feeling.I always think: "this trail would be so much better on a different bike".
What I will do if the farmer catches me.
slackalice - Member
Being in the moment.
This for me too. Too much stuff to think about at work so cycling gives my mind a nice break.
Which trail I'm going to ride next, usually. Or, "am I lost". Or "ChrisL is catching me, this will not stand!"
But there's still a load of thought processes going on in the background that I'm not aware of, I can go out for a ride and come back having made a decision about some thing that was bothering me, without really knowing I was doing it.
If I'm going downhill then I'm concentrating on not mullering myself. Other than that everything and anything really my mind never stops, mixed up with a bit of "why am I doing this? This is rubbish", that usually fades by the top of the hill though...
This...
What to call my ride on Strava
and...
On longer rides, I tend to start fantasing about massive roast dinners at about the 6 hr mark.
but I have to agree with this somehow...
Tis' great for clearing the head though.
When I'm out on my roadbike, I pretend there's a camera bike and helicopter tracking my progress. I even like to check over my shoulder every now and again to see if the imaginary peloton are bearing down on me.
Every now and then, I'll do a snarl or a wink at the camera.
And I think about doing rude things to Tony Gallopin's girlfriend so I'm in a constant state of semi-tumescence... The female viewers at home love that kind of thing.
On the MTB I think mostly about what I'm doing at any given moment TBH...
But on the Road bike, especially on long straight forwards familiar routes (eg when commuting) my mind can toddle off a bit on to other topics and the autopilot kicks in, which is great as you sort of make progress without really noticing any leg pain or tiredness...
Of course the second you actually notice that you've tuned out, reality sort of jumps back in and you have to deal with all those mundane concerns...
I seem to be a shade quicker when my brain switches into that mode, like 90% of the actual cycling becomes almost "autonomic" I guess the times I've been faster/braver on the MTB I've had a similar "not thinking too much" moment..
Not thinking too hard seems to benefit me...
Same as the OP...
Completely blank
That is all 😀
It's nice that some of you think of me :^)
anything but work!!
On the mountain bike: anything and everything and nothing.
On the road bike: I invariably end up fantasizing about hefting half a housebrick through the windscreen of whichever was the last car that buzzed my elbow, cut me up, nearly ran me down, or otherwise demonstrated the criminal imbecility of its driver.
I don't like road riding much anymore.
whats for dinner?
Downhill when it's raining a litany of "Just flow like the water" which beats a series of expletives and sphincter clenching
uphill "I will not walk, I will not walk" although if I'm riding well and get into a rhythm it's Sesame Street's the Count "I am the count and I love to climb...one...two...three"
On the flat an ear-worm of the chorus to Ladykillers by Lush (I wish I knew why) 👿
sometimes from Bowie's 'The Motel'
"There is no hell, like an old hell"
although occasionally my internal juke box will throw in some great stuff.
Why's this so hard today
Why am I so slow today
Why are the others so fast today
Have I got a puncture
Is my suspension set up correctly
🙁
When it's good my mind generally goes blank
🙂
On the road bike, usually just thinking about breathing, cadence, power, heart rate, being in the right training zones, position, etc. Doesn't that sound fun 🙂
Edit... oh and definitely not thinking about pain in legs!
Another vote for boobs.
Usually one of these -
Mountain Bike:
"This is ****ing brilliant!" or "How am I not at the top yet?"
Road Bike commuting:
"Which of these drivers is thinking up a new and imaginative way to kill me and what will that involve?" or "But it was a headwind on the way in, how can it be on the way home as well"
Road Bike training/lanes:
"Keep going" or "I wonder where that road goes"
At the minute loads of driving test theory questions. And I'm changing gear ( clutch in ease off, change...) and checking imaginary mirrors. Other times I mull over work stuff, or what I'm going to have for my tea, or ring mum, or sort out washing, mud and stuff, and then BAM ...sex 😆
Weird how your brain works
Very little other than "don't screw this one up; phew; now make sure you get this right...".
I think that's partly why I find it so great for relaxation: the process of focusing on the trail means there's little opportunity to mull over other things like work and the meaning of life. It's a good few hours of relative mental calm.
My biggest problem is I get an earworm and have a 2 second loop of some song going round and round and round in my head until I get back to the car...
"What's he been putting on his cornflakes? I'll sit here on his wheel a bit longer then go for it when we reach that downhill stretch....."
MTB mind on the trail looking for that next bit I have never ridden or thinking wow nearly hit that tree/rock/spat myself over the top of a berm/ what an adrenaline rush.
Road bike...breath...cadence.....breath.....cadence...drink.....breath.....cadence.......I'll take that turn/route today.....how come I'm still in a headwind? 😆
What to call my ride on Strava
this, its the only reason I ride.
I normally think about what it would be like to bump into a group of sex hungry women /girls /mature women /latino girls ? you get the picture ? that or if work is a drama then work ?
😉
Nothing, wow!! or women.
MTB - try to be in the moment/zone/whatever, anything to avoid thinking about 'real life'. Concentrating on the corners makes everything else take care of itself.
Road - either headwind 🙁 or losing 2 stone has really helped on the hills 🙂
What to call my ride on Strava
this,
its the only reason I ride.
Not just me then. It's either this looping round my head, dreaming of junk food or whatever song was on the radio as I left the door.
I'm not a great intellect.
i once solved a complicated problem with a database i'd been stuck on all day while rolling down the hill back home knackered in the dark, that was pretty good.
Well boobs, sex and girls generally get a good showing here as do nothing, zoning out and the eternal headwind. I'd love to know the age split among the answers here though I suspect I have a fair idea !!
As above, the headwind thing and it always seems that no matter where I ride, there always seems to be more uphill than downhill 🙂
"This would be much more fun on a 650b bike, instead of 26 inch."
Nah, that's not true.
On either bike my mind goes blank or I'm thinking thoughts about the trail, bike or my fitness. I'm sometimes conscious before a ride that I can use the ride to have a good think about xyz problem. But never do.
That said, if I'm pissed off I ride faster. Will try the Tony Gallopin girlfriend thing to see if feeling horny makes me faster too.
My Specialized Body Geometry (TM) saddle has up to a 100% improved penile blood flow. And my lycra shorts make it very difficult to hide anything. So, I try very hard not to think of women when I ride.
Road riding I do with a club so I tend to spend the time chatting rather than thinking.
Mountain biking - like most others ^^ I'm focussing too much on the present to think too much - it's very meditative - which is why I suspect we love it so much
I start of thinking of where I'm aiming to get to, then through a series of daydreams (3 usually) I get to the beginning of the trail
Loads of random stuff such as work related things, guitar riffs I've been working on, what to have for dinner and all that boring stuff. Very rarely switch off even on the descents sometimes. Same on road bike, I have too much stuff on the go right now so switching off would be nice but I can't seem to!