High intensity training increases testosterone and stress hormones (cortisol, norepinephrine).

We've also developed inhibitory measures to these stresses, via social learning, so that we normally don't start hammering on random cars or pouncing on those we're racing with. These behaviors too very likely have correlates at the level of brain chemistry.

Causation is a big deal. Hormonal surges won't cause anyone to behave in any way but they do make aggressive acts more likely, yes. So yeah, it's good to work on your conflict negotiation and relaxation skills while you're taking your training up a notch.

Now that I think about it, I used to be very aggressive while doing sports before I started martial arts. That was during high school, so its possible that martial arts have nothing to do with it and I just matured, but who knows?

Sure it does ... just like flies cause garbage.

No I think martial arts and other fighting disciplines, boxing for one, really help people with self control under very high stress. Beginning fighters will have their panic switches thrown easily and as a result have problems with pacing and strategy. It's actually similar for foot races and bike racing. The gun goes off and the beginner athlete is thrown into panic mode, wherein they have a hard time gaging time and controlling their effort levels.

from the little town of Kumunnawannaleia?

and a member of the Ittybittytitty committee

I've always blamed it on the low blood sugar after hard efforts.

Good points, as a former boxer.

Astute. I've noticed that high intensity training is the stimulus for my "aggression." That's why I tried to raise the issue of physiological response to training.

Happens to me sometimes when commuting to work. Around here, there's so much bike/ped traffic in that time slot that it's as stressful as driving. Otherwise, no.

I have to agree with that. When I used to ride in bigger cities I was pretty aggressive, i.e. cleating sides of cars, punching vans and trucks... stupid stuff. Then I hear stuff like a rider in Denver getting shot and killed, a rider in SF getting run over and I started to think about what caused all of that...

Lifes to short for that *****. Now every time I get cut off I just pretend their face is under my back wheel and spin harder! After a year of this, I am still an aggressive rider but not angrily aggressive if that makes any sense.

Side note: Does anyone here ever get sore from NOT riding.

I've noticed that when the effort goes up, say on a steep climb, that I can have some pretty psychotic impulses. I figure the brain is getting little out of whack competing for blood sugar and oxygen combined with some of other hormonal responses. Fortunately, I have well developed impulse control. But if some yutz took a poke at me mid-hill it'd be damn ugly.

Yup. Two or three days off and I'm sore and grouchy. My wife'll actually push me out the door at that point.

Yeah, I put up a post yesterday about this; and it ended up happening today.

I was going through a green light intersection, when a guy takes a left hand turn at the light, basically trying to go through me. I do a stoppie (rear wheel off of the ground), and then he stops a second (a reasonably long delay), right in my path, about five feet in front of me.

I wasn't incredibly happy to have to do a 3/4-panic stop, and then to sit there and block my path was kinda icing on the cake. There had to be at least twenty cars watching us at the time. I yell at him 'What the F are you doing' before I could even think about what I was saying. I point to where he was headed, and say 'Just Go!'.

He yelled some choice words to me that I couldn't understand. Twenty or thirty seconds later, someone pulled up along side of me and gave me some encouragement, that I also couldn't understand.

On the plus side of things, the new Kool-Stops work well.

Come to think of it, every time I've yelled at motorists, it was when I was climbing a hill.

Contact Eufemio Fuentes and ask him to cut back on your juice a bit.

Seriously, I think it's about 'tude. I'm a peace loving guy but when I'm MTBing I try to run over squirels and our friends the bunny rabbits. I figure if they're slow and dumb enough to get run down by me they deserve to die.

I DEFINITELY get more aggresive when I ride, even just riding to class for like 2 minutes. If I ride fast, by the time I get to class, I feel like punching somebody, not because I'm mad, just cause I'm so amped up on whatever my body produces when I'm on the bike.

Wow.

That's either a very bad joke or you're a really sick person. If it's the latter, get yourself some help.

Either way I think it's highly amusing.

I think that's absolutly the key. How many times have you seen good friends on the brink of throwing punches during a basketball game? One of the reason people enjoy sports is that the emulate thrill of the the hunt and the kill that humans have evolved to crave.

I think it is a combination of things, the acute testosterone increase, adrenaline levels increase (especially when excited climbing, or dodging traffic) which makes you both more aware and alert to what is around you, but also more prone to react. Following these longers periods of excersize, there endorphines are released by the brain, giving a feeling of relaxation, with the purpose of dulling post workout pain.

To test this, smoke a bowl, then go ride, do you still get all agressive?

My purpose for riding is to RELEASE tension, so I try not to let things bother me while riding.

Tried that once but the key to releasing the inner caveman in me is intensity. Stoned biker doesn't like intensity, only Snickers bars and Dorritos.

A cager toss coins at me and that just got me so pissed off today that I sprinted up to 30mph and caught them at the light. The cager was a car full of teenagers it looks like. They crap in their pants b/c they probably didn't think I could catch up to them. I yelled at the top of my lung at them as they peeled out and ran away really quickly swerving all over and going over a curb through a parking lot to outrun me the cylist. Made me feel good little old me was chasing an SUV away. Though I think if they had stopped, I probably would've run away.

So yes I get very aggressive when someone do something intentionally stupid like that. Its not right to be tossing stuff at people. I don't get annoy at comments and ppl yelling or honking as they passed by.