RoadHolland

One of the most recent viral videos to make the rounds has been of Louis C.K. talking about why he hates cell phones. Although his comments included the dangers of using them while driving, his larger point was that they have taken away our ability to do nothing. To sit someplace and just observe. To truly chill. To just think.

His comments ring very true with me. Perhaps to the detriment of my social life, I've always been a thinker. I probably think too much for my own good as well. And while I find it increasingly difficult to find time to just think and do nothing, I still am pretty good at getting it done.

I used to think when listening to music - put it on and just listen and daydream and focus. But with kids and a wife who do not share my taste in music and an open floor plan house, that has become much more difficult.

Some people think in the shower. This doesn't work for me as a venue. I'm not comfortable with using the equivalent of a month's worth of water for a family of 4 in sub-Saharan Africa while contemplating the meaning of life.

Some people think in the car. Nope - I can't multi-task like that. Driving stresses me out.

I'm on airplanes a lot. Aside from inducing extreme fatigue, most air travel does not provide calming pro-think environment.

I've tried yoga. Some people say it clears their minds. Not me. I'm just trying to keep up and end up confused.

So where does my best thinking occur these days. You guessed it - on the bike. I'll spare you the usual verbiage about being alone on the open road, getting in the zone, becoming one with the bike. It almost never works out like that for me. Rather, it's more about just getting the blood flowing. Somehow that must affect my brain. I tried listening to music while riding and that killed all thoughts. Group rides also kill the mental activity.

For me, it's the solo rides that get my mind going. The distance does not matter. I come up with all kinds of ideas while riding - business ideas, new song lyrics, activities for the kids, solutions to longstanding problems.

So where do you do your best thinking? What do you think?

Long Tom

I can report that highly-aerobic activity was THE turning point with my head injury. In a tangible way it seemed/seems to just get things flowing.

I also like to "think". However I'm not hurting for alone quiet time generally; I live on a very quiet private rural property and my machine shop is in the same building that used to be a commercial recording studio- meaning its very well-insulated for sound. My property is quiet to begin with but in THERE... it's like a sensory-deprivation tank <g>.

BTW the meaning of life is "orange".

genejockey 

I'm in the same boat regarding music. I like it not so much loud as just 'loud enough', that is, loud enough that it absorbs my attention. In other words, not background music. The wife and kids don't like the same music, so they turn it down, or they complain, or even if they don't, they make it clear that they don't like it. Kinda ruins the joy.

Not to get all 'new agey', but I think that the nature of certain activities puts one in a different frame of mind, and some mental states are just more conducive to thinking.

For example, I've noticed that when I'm driving with a passenger, and we're talking, my attention to the road and the task of driving is MUCH better than if I'm talking on a cell phone, even using a hands-free device. I'm not sure why, but it's as if your mind is not all there in the car with you, whereas talking to a passenger, I'm much more 'present'. I chose not to use a cellphone in the car LONG before California made it illegal - I just felt much less safe.

With cycling, there's a certain level of attention that needs to be paid to the task, to the road, etc. But generally your speed is low enough that, once you're experienced enough, you no longer need to pay full attention to the task. Parts of the mind are free to wander. I've often found that I've come up with a solution to a problem without consciously thinking about it while riding, even though when I tried consciously to think of a solution earlier, nothing came to me.

SpeshulEd 

About the shower...but applies to the bike to:
https://mentalfloss.com/article/52586...come-us-shower

rufvelo

Yep, on the bike since one can mull over issues over several hours.

pdedes

I don't bring music to my rides. I find that engaging all my senses in a real way leads me to purposeful contemplation. Also thanks Richard, for my favourite cool weather long sleeve jersey.

Samfujiabq

I think ,plan,contemplate,everything while riding,and I also do the same thing when Im running.So I guess I do a lot of thinking.But isn't that the beauty of solitary rides just to let your mind wonder,a bit,not when I'm in traffic obviously ,but the only thing I don't get on a bike vs running is the "runners high".thats a whole other topic though.

B. Carfree

Many years ago, while working as a research biochemist, the middle of my 25-mile each way commute was a nice 4 mile sort-of bike path set down between an elevated freeway and elevated railroad tracks, about a half-mile from each. I had more of my "aha" moments on that portion of the ride than anywhere else. I was warmed up, stress-free and just pumping along with nothing in particular to think about.

fureshi

I thought that the meaning of life was "43"?

OldTryGuy

My best thinkin,

is when I'm stinkin.

znomit

I'd like to think that the 41ers don't do their best thinking in front of the computer.

RJM

The bike is really the only place I have reached something even coming close to true meditation.


I have been having issues with our teenager lately and when I find out something he did wrong I tend to take off on the bike for an hour or two to get my head cleared and think about the proper remedy/solution to whatever problem it is. It really works to calm me down and parent better, IMHO.






btw, your jerseys rock.

Nachoman

Weekend rides with a large group and weekday rides with a small group.
More social. Less thinking.

NMHillclimber

Could not agree more! Realized this YEARS ago. While I used to "hit the zone" and be more meditative when I lived back east and it was flat....I do my best thinking on the bike. I tell my staff that. They think it's an excuse to take to to ride during the work day

bbattle

I always do my best thinking, talking and singing when riding my bikes.

SpeshulEd 

Ha, I've been known to sing to myself on occasion. On a rare occasion when I have earbuds in, I've also been known to try to dance. I'm sure the cars that pass me are more than confused.

SirHustlerEsq

This. I do no thinking on the bike, it's all meditation or something like it. It's the complete opposite of road-trip driving in a car where the miles run together; I remember every single mile and piece of pavement. The bicycle for me is a ticket out of whatever I want to momentarily abandon, I check into some sort of pain and speed event where it keeps hurting but I go faster.

My professional associates seem to think it's the end of the world but it gives them healing and they're learning to deal with it.

caloso

Long climb, focused on the sound of my own breathing and the turnover of the pedals, it's my shortcut to serenity.

stilltooslow

I always do my best thinking on my rides. By the time I'm done, I've solved most of the world's problems as well as my own!

Buffybike

I've prayed, cried, meditated, loved, hated and laughed on my bike. Only when alone, though. Riding has kept me sober and (mostly) sane for the past 4 years. Another sober friend considers his training an important and vital part of his recovery. This past year, three members of my family were diagnosed with cancer. I try to show a strong face to my kids at home, but sometimes I just need to ride into the country so I can fall apart in peace. And just last week, I worked through some major relationship problems over a 3 hour ride. Something about riding....an hour or so into it, I feel more empathic, more open-minded, less resentful and self-pitying. I was a wreck when I rolled out of the house, but a different person when I got back.

rousseau

Me too.