Speedway2

I often find my self in a nostalgic frame of mind. Thinking about my youth and the good friends I had, wondering if they're still around and healthy. Happy and Sad at the same time.
Sometimes I even feel Anemoia.....especially when I see "old" people. Strange.

nesdog

I'm all over the place during a ride; our 26 year old daughter items, should I change up the route, how does my body feel, COVID, COVID, COVID!!

Riding alone for so many months, without any of the usual groups, leaves my mind more open to random thoughts. It's more tiring than the ride!

Yeah, got to find a way to calm this down and enjoy the moment. That is my goal for 2021.

davester

I mostly ride with others, so we chat about everything under the sun. This is much more important during Covid since I don't get to chat with anyone outside the household live other than when on the bike. No matter whether I'm with others or by myself, mostly I drink in the wonderful scenery and simply enjoy the feeling of zooming along with the beautiful world around me (except when I am humping up the 15% grade back to my house at the end of a long ride, at which times I am only thinking of getting off the bike and guzzling down a beer).

Papa Tom

Me, too. Good luck, and check back in at the end of 2021!

MinnMan

When I first started riding, I listened to music, but after a couple of years I stopped, and now I never would. Not only did I become concerned about safety, I also came to value the quiet mind-clearing of a long ride.

Funny how I can ride for 5 or 6 hours and not be bored, just alone with my thoughts. It can't be explained to anybody who hasn't done it.

On the trainer? That's different -my mind is never going to wander in that same way, and I need the motivation. Loud music for sure.

velojym

Everything and nothing. I don't wear earbuds while I'm riding, but I will run some songs through my head. Other times, I'll think about various things, far too many sorts of things to list here.
...and sometimes, nothing at all. I just lose myself in the moment, focusing on sensations, how my bike sounds and feels, and the scenery around me.

MinnMan

That's another reason I don't listen to music on the road. If my bike is making unexpected sounds, I want to know about it.

downtube42

Those of us who do randonneuring, when asked why we do it, usually come up with lame cliche answers. To find our limits, because it's there, because we can, etc. The real reasons are more elusive. Part of what happens after enough hours or days and nights on the bike is the mind becomes focused completely and entirely on what it takes to keep going; everything else fades away. Life becomes about the ride; better yet, the ride becomes life. Distance to the next turn and the one after, distance to the next stop, time in the bank, staying hydrated, planning the next stop, eating, staying on top of traffic, monitoring mental state, noticing any developing physical issues, the bike - these are the things that occupy my mind. The world becomes very small.

At the end of my first 1200k, I handed my brevet card to the official. Unlike the previous controls, he kept it after stamping it with my time. I just stood there. Now I know the volunteers call us shattered people, but I think that's wrong. We're people devoid of thoughts. After some food and a bit of sleep, the world floods back in.

I told that story to a co-worker a few years back; he laughed and said "dude, you know you can do that with drugs, right?" I expect he's right.

I can't get there on a normal ride; I can maybe quiet the endless looping thoughts and notice the world, but to get to that deep focus, I cross that threshold after hundreds of miles. I don't know if it's addictive, but once you've been there you want to go back.

5 mph

I know what you are saying.

05 fuji

I find that am just in the moment and and stay away from the demons of every day life! Therapeutic sessions without the co-pay!

gthomson

Huh, Anemoia is a term I've never heard before but I think i can relate. I love historical imagery and often wonder what it was like in the image of a time long forgotten. Usually I look at old images that I can relate to, like old images of Toronto. i didn't grow up in some of those old images but i think what my previous generation relatives experienced who were actually there?

whew, going a little deep here.

OldTryGuy

Climb on board and just ride

Sertsa

I was thinking on somewhat related thoughts recently, especially while hiking.

I think about a lot of things while hiking or biking, particularly writing and music ideas, along with my progress in losing weight and being healthier, things I need to do, etc. But while hiking my mind keeps getting a myriad of thoughts and memories, including a lot of things in the past I really wish I could go back and fix. I'm sometimes able to work through some issues, get past the regrets and depression, and make decisions.

Riding, however, is a bit different. It's more of a calm as I'm pushing along, looking at the path, trees, next horizon. I don't think I make as many decisions while riding, but I usually feel better able to make them. Thoughts are a bit clearer, may even fade completely and there's just the changing landscape and sound of motion. Often in those times I sing to myself (although more loudly under/through bridges), often making up songs and melodies, and there's a sense of peace I don't really experience at any other time.

rsbob 

When I used to bike commute, about 45 mins each way, I would do any planning, think about home or work issues and sometimes compose poetry. Ended up writing a half dozen.

In my 30s belonged to a bike club or with a good friend and we were constantly doing pace lines or drafting which requires full concentration, so little time to think other than staying safe and keeping a good pace at the front.

Now I have a new multifunction cycle computer, Strava and earbuds playing Pandora. I concentrate on technique, body position and besting previous speeds and staying safe. Thinking is overrated.

02Giant 

The wind.

Papa Tom

Have you ever looked into genetic memory? It's a (quite valid, in my opinion) theory that, perhaps memory is one of the things passed down from ancestors in our DNA. I have vivid recollections of being places I know I never visited, places that didn't even exist in my lifetime.

LibertyFLS

I am more or less this mindset. I want the exercise and push myself the whole way but basically zone out and enjoy the beautiful scenery where I live. Music is my companion, my daily mix track, I don’t always pay attention to it but it’s always there (just my phone, nothing obnoxious)

Kabuki12

I thank grandfather for the ability to ride my bike and the blessings in my life. At times my mind goes into thinking about all the moving parts that keep me gliding along. I have built almost all my bikes from complete disassembly to rideable condition. Every ball bearing checked , cleaned , greased , and reassembled. So that is where my brain goes to while I ride ....among other things!

5 mph

Makes me laugh. Had a 1980 Corolla as my first car, and I had just rebuilt the carburetor. Just starting to learn how to work on cars.
I was crossing the Tappen Zee bridge from NJ heading to NYC. A really huge bridge that seems to go higher than an airplane. Huge trucks behind and in front.
And there I was high above the River on the bridge, 747's 500 feet below me in my imagination , thinking about those tiny needle valves and flimsy plastic floats and those little screws that hold the butterfly valve on...and if did something wrong...

Chuck M 

Riding the back roads of rural Oklahoma, I like to look for things to take pictures of with my cell phone. Yes, I'm "that guy" that posts almost every Saturday morning ride on facebook. So what goes through my mind is taking in what is around me and how lucky I am to be able to do it. Of course I also have the Garmin before me but I try to not let it distract from what I'm taking in visually unless I'm navigating a new route. Anyway, I post those pictures because facebook will show them in my memories, and aren't memories in the saddle great?

But the best memories come from when I ride on my old Takara. When I was in high school I bought a Takara from a local sporting goods store and rode it like I had no good sense. This year I found one a model lower but the same year. It is a little too small for me but in almost new condition. And when I'm on it I feel 18 again. I often ride it on the same path I rode as a teenager and memories of those rides go through my mind with great fondness.

rsbob 

Please post your images on the picture thread. Would love to see them

IronM

I can meditate on endurance rides. I find that 'all day pace' & then let myself go. Eventual I come around I often have a 'now where the heck am I?" moment.
If on a 'hard' solo ride, I imaging myself trying to hold off the peleton. They're just out of sight, but gunning for me.
But otherwise, I can occupy myself with recalling music.

joesch

homilies and CAT7RDR doxologies are positive ways to use the mind while riding. I like to start/end my rides with a prayer/thanks for health/safety and try to quiet my mind for the most part in between. It is nice solving some pending issues as quiet mind interruptions

bargo68 

If I'm really being honest....

Kabuki12

NO!!!! Never!