Sometimes I lose concentratiion on the bike, and it scares me. This is more true in a group ride, but also applies when solo. Sometimes my mind wanders to the topic of the day in work, family or whatever. I am very aware of the problems I could have due to a slow reaction time to one of many things that can happen on the road. A couple times I have wandered off the road when not concentrating on riding. This has actually happened on solo rides, but I know my mind has wandered during group rides, but not to the point of a problem. I know any loss of concentration is bad and I am working to find a way to never let the mind stray too far from the road.

I takes very little concentration to ride a bike. I does take a bit more to track traffic, but otherwise its roughly the same level as walking.

So, it you're not able to bring at least that wee bit of focus, I wonder about your general ability to stay alert and focused on whatever you're doing.

Unless you can account for why you're losing concentration, and especially it it's also happening off the bike, and/or if this is a new thing for you, I'd see a doctor to see if there's something that might account for it.

I find riding a bike to be like playing a video game. I'm an unreformed chatterbox when riding with others, but when riding alone (most of the time) I go into a zen-like state where my mind empties, and all I do is focus on the task at hand ... riding a bike.

And something happens when I do that. It's as if all of the background processing ... things that are floating around in my subconscious mine ... come to the fore. But soon, even they are overwhelmed by the zen.

Kinda strange. I think it is one of the reasons riding a bike is so challenging and relaxing at the same time.

I've had that happen a few times recently . . . And you are correct, it is scary. Especially on group rides I tend to follow other riders and not look at my route sheet and occasionally (thankfully not real often) I realize I don't know where I am and I'm asking myself "What road are we on?"

It usually comes to me in a couple of seconds but those "Twilight Zone" moments always make me think "That was weird. Is this old age creeping up on me?" I'm 66 as a point of reference.

Sometimes I experience those "zen-like" moments noted by Biker395 yet thankfully his "chatter-box-ness" prevents any such instances when actually riding with him!

Rick / OCRR

This topic is intensely interesting to to me. I remember during the Vietnam protest days, "Life" or "Look" magazine published a photo of a Buddhist monk protesting American bombing of villages. He did this by pouring gasoline over himself and striking a match, then sat quietly while he burned to death. This was an astounding demonstration of mental control. Currently, monks in Tibet are also doing this in protest to the Chinese invasion of Tibet. It is clear that such mental control is a skill that is taught and learned.

I believe you are right to think about this because being alert and present, not in the future or the past is a better path in life. In the realm of sports performance, in many sports but my experience is in tennis, the state of hyper alertness is termed, "in the zone", no drugs necessary. The procedure that gets one there is to continually bring our attention back to the present. Over time, we get better at it.

I think you're on the right track just by seeing this behavior as a disaster-in-the-making. You just have to ask yourself how much your value your life and health. This is serious stuff. You may not get a second chance. It is all up to you. Sounds like you are taking the threat seriously. Don't drop your guard.

When I'm on the bike I only think about flowers and wildlife, warm sun, which way is the wind blowing, etc.

yes, as i said earlier, riding requires zero conscious mental effort. Most of us do something else with our minds, from enjoying the area we're riding through, to creative or problem solving thinking about other stuff entirely, or simply daydreaming.

But from his statement quoted below, it seems the OP's problem is a bit different.
I don't know of anyone who gets so distracted that he can't stay on the road or trail. I can see anything happening once, but if the OP finds that he's having trouble with this, then he has an extreme case which may have medical or mental implications, and should be looked into.

I enjoy cycling because it provides an alternative reality compared to being indoors or sitting in a car.

The bicycle might disappear and I might forget the time and petty daily issues. That would be a good reason to ride.

I recently was advised that a testosterone cream applied to the skin would restore my mental focus, in addition to providing other benefits.

I was going to reply to your thread but I forgot what I was going to type.

I had an injury this fall with a minor brain trauma that lasted a couple months as minor motion dizziness.
I found that drinking Smart Water helped me to drive and also helped me when I got back on the bike.
Now I always pedal with Smart Water in my water bottles. I think the electrolytes help.

WOW. Some comments I would not expect, and maybe it is because I was not clear to start with. The concentration I need to sharpen is more a cyclist concentration than needing a shrink. I often ride in groups that average over 20 MPH with the riders only inches apart. One second can make the difference between a problem and avoiding one. The solo situation has more to do with tinkering with my Garmin a couple times over the past 10 years. The concentration has more to do with pulling off the road to make a repair or adjustment than, once again, needing a shrink. I consider that trying to make an adjustment on the bike a loss of concentration.

OK, thanks for clarifying.

I can't speak for others, but I was responding to your words as written, which seemed to describe control issues, and led me to wonder if there were something medically wrong. I wasn't thinking about mental, as much as physical, and more in line of needing a neurologist, not psychiatrist review.

OTOH- as you point out, close order riding, requires constant attention, so if you continue to do so, despite concerns about your ability to focus, maybe you do need a shrink after all. That was in semi jest, but the point isn't.

Abso-effing-lutely! That's why I ride or climb or ski or do stuff like that.

I would say that if one is having trouble concentrating on the bike, think about more bike stuff. Concentrate on pedaling perfect circles. Watch your cadence and heart rate. Plan your ride to follow a route and have a goal for your ride: X average or fast up some hills or whatever. Ride the fog line. Concentrate on perfect position: pelvis rolled forward, back straight, shoulder blades dropped, shoulders relaxed, elbows bent. Think about what you're doing on the bike every instant.

efficiency in motion
glisse


edit: with some practice, after a while the 'concentration' becomes relaxed into a 'focused' (awareness?) frame of mind.

if OP is riding fastnclose with groups, he is very savvy and was only making attention observation. We've all done that. Let me find the pic......

since i was playing with the camera phone it's not an 'attention' issue,
but who hasn't been on a quiet road on a decent (or better) day
and
gone

WHOOOOOPS!

I think the most of us have experience this with driving, going across town on mental cruise control and wondering later how we managed without really having to pay much attention. Bike riding the open road is the place to let my mind wander with no "have to's". Freedom.

Occasionally I will have the sensation of not knowing what road I'm on. Only lasts a few seconds. I am aware of being on my bike so I don't feel as if I'm in danger of falling off or going off the road. It was kind of disconcerting the first few times, but doesn't seem to be happening any more frequently. I first noticed it 3 or 4 years ago. I'm 68.

colleague once said about my riding: "so nice you have time to think" but actually, on the bike, for me, everything else fades away & my thoughts are entirely in the moment. sorry I couldn't relate or help. but maybe that's helpful is some a*s-backwards way?

I believe you are referring to this gentleman:


The burning monk, 1963


The band Rage Against the Machine used a portion of the photo for the cover of its self-titled album.

Personally, I do find cycling time a good time to think, often about work-related items (on my commute) and even composing posts to BikeForums, all while listening to radio talk shows. Just this morning I posted,

Quote:

Originally Posted by bmthom.gis

I use earbuds for all my commutes. It makes it a much more pleasant experience being able to listen to music or podcasts then just constant traffic noise…Commute is boring, not much in the way of being able to dramatically change the route

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim from Boston

…As a decades-long, year-round urban commuter, road cyclist, tourist, and victim of a rear end hit-and-run (by a distracted driver), this expresses also my attitude towards audio input while riding. My routes are not boring, but certainly familiar and routine. I mostly listen to radio talk shows, and occasionally music. Years ago I found when driving, I was distracted from audiobooks, and had to keep rewinding.

BTW, my screen name, “Jim from Boston,” refers to my identification when I (rarely) call in to talk shows, “… and now here’s Jim from Boston…What’s up Jim?...” My favorite calls in to talk shows are replies to rants about cyclists, and I refer to myself as the "Station’s Number One Fan among Boston’s Cyclists."

Even on my mentally challenging and stimulating job, I listen to talk shows, and without, the silence is deafening.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1989Pre

I can not imagine having earbuds in my ears when riding around Boston in spring when the college kids are moving in.

(Kind of like popping some dark shades on on an overcast day). The one place where your senses have to be most acute and un-hindered is in the city.
...and in defense of the city, I like soaking in the ambience of the city and all it has to offer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim from Boston

Or like popping on some dark shades on a bright sunny day. Actually, I don't wear shades at all, just eyeglasses to enjoy the sights, and like eyeglasses, earphones actually help me focus and enjoy the noise.

PS: FYA, a local BF acquaintance. @jimmuller posted this thread earlier this year, about the inner mental life of cyclists, ”Disconnected thoughts while riding”

I have a theory about concentration, take it as just a theory but it works. Intense focus is about the frequency of observations. We don't truly multitask - our brains aren't wired that way. When we feel like we are, we're really splitting our attention between tasks, or memories or thoughts, one at a time in sequence. Focusing on a task is just bringing our wandering attention back to the task more often, which I call greater frequency of observation.

Concentration involves increasing the focus. I would say they're the same thing, but concentrating usually means adding some mental process and focus is more about perceiving things. So one way is to simply increase the rate at which you perceive (give some attention to) what you're doing - how the bike feels, what the road is doing, what's going on near you etc - but that's not all. There is the mental component also which, obviously, tends to control how much attention we're paying. I think that's where the concern is, and again this is only my theory but as we get older we tend to imprint more patterns - routine responses, trains of thought - so a lot tends to get filtered out as unimportant, having been there and done that and already knowing how to proceed, while our mind wanders down familiar paths. I have yet another theory on how to counteract this natural tendency.

Most people try to concentrate on something as an act of indomitable will, forcing themselves to think about it, again and again. It's frustrating, a constant struggle and to outward appearances, sometimes painful. It's also the wrong way to go about it. We always have wandering thoughts, multiple objectives, pressing challenges in the back of our mind, and monitoring our environment, all competing for our attention. We can't turn it off by commanding our mind; the struggle just makes it worse. The key is to accept it all, and then disregard whatever is not immediately important to the task at hand. Allow it to flit through our attention, but not indulge ones self to dwell on it. That way the concentration is naturally sharpened, without the struggle.

Actually, what you are experiencing is pretty common in many activities. Having no detailed recollection of driving from from one place to another is pretty common, for example.

Spend some time learning about recent cognition research and your fears should go away.

You seem to have moved your biking to the muscle memory level rather than the active thing level. We call it muscle memory. But, in reality it is training the entire body to perform without concious thought.

Lots of people do very hazardous things while experiencing the same thing.

Loss of concentration while riding is one of the benefits of biking I think. Total relaxation can be good and riding is ( can be) about as mindless as breathing. Very meditative. You gotta pick your spots to do this of course.

I do this a bit on my motorcycles at times, better if it doesn't last too long