What have you done on your bike today?
- Thread starter The GOAT
- Start date
Something very peculiar happened to me while riding earlier. I am by no means a particularly talented, skilful or brave rider. Probably best described as adequate or average but for some reason today I seem to have ascended to a higher plane of riding skill. I have never ridden so smoothly with such minimal effort and I`ve barely had to touch the brakes. If I didn`t know better I would say the bike has taken over and is ignoring all input from me. The only change to my usual daily routine is that our dog was invited for a sleepover by his bitch so no walkies for me today. Other than that all normal. It can`t be the lack of a walk . Maybe I have finally got the hang of it after 47 years and hundreds of thousands of miles? I hope it continues . I wonder if any of you lot have ever had a similar day ?
I used to get these kind of days on a regular basis. There just seemed to be so much grip... throwing the bike on either side felt as natural as breathing... hitting apexes was automatic... I was in the zone on those days.
Doesn't happen at all now. The combination of age, fewer annual miles, saturation cash-cameras and super-saturation traffic where I live all mean that such feelings are a thing of the past.
That reminds me, I should buy a van and resume track-days. (Although I know I won't and I know why, too.)
You get days like that when you don't want it to end, everything falls in place. It is most likely to happen when you are relaxed. Yes, the lack of dog walking routine could have just made the difference. I noticed it when I joined our gang in Scotland there was no pressure to be anywhere or do anything other than to enjoy total emersion in the ride; great feeling!
I believe smooth fast road riding is primarily about forward observation. Most riders don't look anywhere near far enough ahead unless they make a conscious effort to do so.
When you do you relax and flow and everything else falls into place as well, such as road positioning, corner entry timing brake and gear change timing.
As Hugo says, something about your change of routine maybe relaxed you or cleaned out your head space and you simply got into the zone of reading the road ahead instead of being distracted by the day's thoughts and things going on around you that weren't relevant to the ride.
Sometimes with me, simply questioning whether I should have picked another route is enough to stop me making the most of the one I'm actually riding: Hmm, I rode this the day before yesterday/the road gets bumpy up here/bet there'll be loads of traffic/wish I'd gone the other way etc etc. Then I switch off and very quickly the ride can become a chore and I'm just using the bike as transport to get me somewhere else.
If you can zone out that negativity and distracting thoughts and just ride the road as it unspools in front of you (even if it's the same one you rode yesterday..), you connect with the bike and everything comes together.
I remember reading years ago that sometimes we should aim to live a bit more like a dog. A dog never complains (as far as I can tell) that today's walk isn't as good as yesterday's and so on. They make the most of what is available at any given time rather than worry about what they are not doing.
I went for another ride after reading your post, still all good but i made a point in advance of making a mental list of a few things to think about to occupy my mind rather than concentrate on riding as opposed to emptying my mind. That worked well as everything continued to flow.
Changing the subject, how are you now? On the mend i hope and eating and drinking more.
I'm sure I must have done it during my "what year is it phase" but can I advise anyone in a relationship, not to shit or piss on the floor. It seems that was a box no lady ever ticked in tinder, for a possible partner.
I did say a bit more like a dog. That doesn't mean you have to go full retard like say Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man.
Seem to be fit again now. Fever abated by Saturday. Joint and bone pain pretty much back to normal (ie normal aches and pains) as of today. Eating well. Water intake still poor - must work on that.
Never did get a doctor's appointment. They're far too busy, yet I know if I'd walked into the surgery there'd have been an empty waiting room and a receptionist sucking sweets. But apparently they're snowed under.
The only health professional I was able to see was a pharmacist who trawled through a meaningless Q&A NHS app. She did have the honesty to look me in the eye and say she thought this was covid related. I one way that's good news as I'm not going to die from it. On the other hand, if she's right this will recur every four to six months until I'm dead or bankrupt.