Track bikes

[miles]

I call it a concentration rush.  There isn't any other way to describe it.  You have to be completely focused on what is happening RIGHT NOW.  When you start getting dialed in, your vision expands and you can see, hear, smell, and feel all kinds of things going on, all at the same time.  When your vision narrows, you have to back off and regroup.  As it widens out again, then you can go fast again.  At its best, time slows and you can think about where to brake, where to put the tires, think about exactly which mark use to start braking, where to let off if you are trail braking, where to get on the throttle and how much, what gear you are in, and all kinds of other things.  You can see people off the track, you can track other bikes up to a point, you can see the track in great detail, you can feel your tires and your bike, and all kinds of other things.  Other competitive sports are similar, but none quite pack in as much pure concentration.  Everything else in the world doesn't matter at all when you are on the track.

That's funny- for me it's purely the opposite.  The less I think the faster and smoother I go.  When I'm working The Streets in the low 1:30s hardly a conscious thought enters my brain.  I hate to use the hackneyed phrase, but a track that demanding at a pace like that (to put it in perspective, that's in the top 25% of the fast group on a good day) puts me in a flow state, and doesn't allow any thing else.
On the Road Course at Willow SPrings it's a different story.  There is so much time between the turns that the mind can wander.


miles

[bizarro]

I gotta agree with Miles on this. 'Flow-state' describes it exactly. I don't think about anything and it's as if I'm not riding the bike but that it's being ridden through me by something else. When I start thinking too much is when I start getting sloppy. 'Course my track days are over, perhaps for good, and riding the Goose is a zen of another color altogether.

[Gaolee]

That's funny- for me it's purely the opposite.  The less I think the faster and smoother I go.  When I'm working The Streets in the low 1:30s hardly a conscious thought enters my brain.  I hate to use the hackneyed phrase, but a track that demanding at a pace like that (to put it in perspective, that's in the top 25% of the fast group on a good day) puts me in a flow state, and doesn't allow any thing else.
On the Road Course at Willow SPrings it's a different story.  There is so much time between the turns that the mind can wander.


miles

I didn't say anything about mind wandering.  It is a pure, simple, uncluttered awareness of everything, and the ability to respond instantly.  Flow is another way to put it.

[Mr Sunshine]

"Flow-State" == The Zone.

Alot of things enter my mind when I'm in the zone but all of them have to do with the task at hand.

[dinolee]

'Course my track days are over, perhaps for good, and riding the Goose is a zen of another color altogether.

Bullshit, we are soooo getting you and the goose back into trackdays next year.  Even if your brother has to kidnap you, dammit!  

[Gaolee]

Bullshit, we are soooo getting you and the goose back into trackdays next year.  Even if your brother has to kidnap you, dammit!  

 

[bizarro]

We shall see.......