1991BRB1

Depends behind whom I am riding

lsberrios1 

When the heck will this end...

wallrat

Usually the last 5% of my rides ends up me thinking that. No matter what the distance is, 15 miles or 150 miles, I push it till the end and I usually end up done before making it home.

RPK79

This is what you think of the thread or during a ride...?

lsberrios1 

During a ride

linnefaulk

What DON"T I think about?

joe_5700

It depends on if it is a solo training ride, group training ride or a race. There are too many thoughts that go through my mind to even list.

MDfive21

mostly Butts. and sometimes those lightbulb moments that crack me up.

RogueRadio

Never about anything that stresses me out. I push out all the negative thoughts in my head so I can just fully release any tension. I usually think about the ride, the music I'm listening to, scenery, and more so about ride tactics, like when to stand/sit during a climb, when to burn another rider in the group or plan a breakaway

gdhillard

My ride is the same riverside greenway every day. I look for turtles, birds and deer, and work my way through the people. This question is a good one for me, because I spend an hour or more out there every day, and will try to make good use of that thinking time. Maybe try to do some gratitude practice.

chasm54

Despite the extreme poverty of most of these responses, I don't think this is an uninteresting question.

I tour. I go on long steady rides in training. In either case, I could be on the bike for six hours in a day. People have often asked me what I think about, whether I don't get bored, etc.

I thnk about lots of things. Where I'm going, where I'll stop, what I want for lunch, whom I'd like to be with me, all sorts. But most of the time I am not thinking, I am just being. I am aware of my surroundings, am in contact with my rhythms and the process of riding my bike, but I am not thinking, I just am. It's a Zen-like condition, these days they'd call it mindfulness. It's most restful.

Machka 

This ^^


On a long ride, I start by randomly thinking through everything that pops into my head ... work, school, family, friends, etc. etc. etc. Then my thinking becomes more focused and I work through various problems. I might "write" a research paper for school or solve the issue I'm having with the database at work.

If the ride is long enough, then I'll start imagining. I might design and build a house to suit the landscape I'm cycling through. I might create a story of the people who lived in the old run-down log cabin or stone ruin. I might play the "if I won a million dollars" game. Just depends on my mood at the time.

I'll spend some time looking at the scenery and watching the wildlife.

I might also do some math ... I may break a 200K down into 12ths, 11ths, 10ths, 9ths, 8ths, etc. so that I know when I have completed 6/11ths of the ride, or whatever.

I try to refrain from thinking about what I'll do later that night or the next day until toward the end of the ride. It's too depressing to be at the 77 km point of wet and windy 200 km ride and to start thinking about hot baths and pizza. But I will indulge myself in those thoughts with 10 km to go ... it kind of spurs me on.

motorthings

since I have a degree in english (with a creative writing emphasis), i compose long strava titles/descriptions that incorporate complicated metaphors, moving sybolism, and other literary devices that simultaneously entertain and antagonize others who follow me. the other thing i think about is how to save enough energy to be able to remember the title/description, and be able to type it up before crashing on the couch.

SpeshulEd 

I usually think about how sexy I look in spandex and how fortunate the passing drivers are to have the chance to check out my butt.

bruce19

When I ride alone I'm usually riding hard. So, I think about the ride....my cadence, technique, speed, cornering lines, etc. When I'm riding in a group I'm thinking about who is around me and how safe we are with each other. Always watching and trying to be ready for what others might do.

Wheever

Sounds something like this:

"Pedal pedal pedal
Pedal pedal pedal
Hill. Ugh. Pedal Pedal.
Downhill! Woo! Pedalpedalpedal!
What was my max speed on that? Hmm. Felt faster
Pedal pedal pedal"
Etc.

Rich Gibson 

+1 when I'm on the Ox road sidepath here in northern Virginia. However when I ride the W&OD trail it's not getting hit by hotshots pretending they're riding in a time trial squeezing through two crossing riders and not saying a peep.

Seriously, anything that takes me away from the stresses of normal life.....like the weather, the next hill, my heart rate, speed and how I'm feeling.

Rich

nkfrench 

Mostly this. But I'll also take in sights, smells, sounds, sense of wind on skin, just being in the moment.
On one steep climb I wonder if I am going to summit without passing out or falling off the bike.
On bad rides, I wallow in self-pity and count down the remaining miles.
Some solo rides I'll mentally drift and compose fictional short stories about dialogues between me and my bicycles and my cat and various inanimate objects. Content can be vaguely humorous to hallucinogenic. The miles go by quickly.

joeyduck

I used to do this in high school when I was training for swimming. Hours in my own mind with nothing to really think about. Most of my conversations were in Spanish also, which was the language course I took in school. I ended up speaking Spanish fairly well and knowing a lot of proper grammar and verb tense in conversation.

When biking I can not honestly recall what I specifically think about other than, "Go harder you sally." My mind wanders and I think about everything but really nothing; the usual guys mind. When commuting I am fairly focused on traffic patterns, and where to go next and who is the next idiot that poses the biggest threat.

LAJ

I think about what it will take to maintain my high average speed. Especially when I'm on a long solo ride.

prorobo

I think about when the next Strava segment is coming up and how much I have left in the tank at the moment to go after it (typically not much).

Fastfwd01

Karlie Kloss specifically most recently btw... Nike Girl, etc.

Gus90

That's the beauty of riding, it's almost the only thing I do when I'm focused on nothing else but riding and enjoying the ride. No texts, no distractions, just me and my bike and the goal.

kbarch

I rarely think of anything but the ride - the sounds the bike makes, the way the road and the bike feel, that sort of thing. I don't "drink in the view" of any more or less scenic landscape I may be passing, but I do notice the way things in the distance approach, and how the view changes as I move along. I look at the people around and briefly consider who they might be, whether they are taking it easy or struggling, etc. I think about whether I should speed up or slow down. I DO think about my average speed a little, and when I approach a Strava segment, I wonder how I might do, or whether I should bother to try for a little trophy, and why. Only for a brief moment or two will I think of anything separate, like work, current events, family, etc.

Manweiser

What should i name this ride... something clever... something awesome... something something