Alone With Your Thoughts
If you’re a solo ride like I am, you spend a whole lot of time on your bike each week all alone with your thoughts. Yeah, that is an incredible amount of time to be one on one with what’s floating around in your brain. Especially if you have a wildly insane brain like mine.
Yeah, I admit to being a little bit crazy, so at times I can work myself up with a bunch of distorted ideas and problems…..and it can really take away from the zen state of a good ride.
You see, the only time I really am able to go within is on the bike. I’m still thinking of incorporating meditation into my daily routine, but just haven’t been able to make that one stick yet. So for now….bike time equals thought time.
They say us humans have approximately 50,000 thoughts in any given day, which means we have at least 3,500 per hour on the bike. On the crazy days, that means I’m likely to have up to 1,000 distorted thoughts per day (yeah, only a small percentage of mine are classified as crazy).
My best advice for getting rid of those crazy thoughts when they come up is to say the word, “clear” over and over until it’s gone. That’s always been what works for me.
Here’s to clearing out the negative thoughts, Enjoying Your Ride, and Loving Life on and off the Bike.
#MakeitHappen
There is nothing quite like a ride for me to clear my head. I take off with my head swimming with a 1000 different things. And they fall away as the miles go by. It is amazingly consistent that when I return I see things more clearly, I am more at peace and more focused.
The last thing to leave my head is music, so usually when i am at the end of a ride there is a song playing in my head over and over.
That’s awesome. Thanks for your feedback, Eric. I hope you get all the time you need for good riding and a clear head.
I ride dirt to silence the voices in my head, it requines a lot pf focus and drowns out any negative thoughts. I commute to get prepare me mentally (RESET) for the next part of the day and cuz it is easy.
Sounds perfect. Yes, being in the solitude that can be found on a mountain bike trail is definitely a great way to become one with your thoughts.
I enjoy my alone-time on the bike. It helps me clear my head and put the things bothering me about work or home or whatever into perspective and get them solved. Rare is the ride where something has me so worked up that it’s not sorted by the end of the ride. Maybe I should just ride longer, in those cases? Probably.
Yeah, those long rides can do a lot for your body and soul. I don’t get the chance for long rides like I did when we lived in Austin and I sure do miss it.
I tend to focus on the ride while riding, but when I stop by for a rest I feel so relaxed and it’s great time to clear all negative thoughts and set my mind free
Great attitude, Valerie. Keep on Loving the Bike.
Hey Karl, I really appreciate your input on this. We were actually just talking about Thich Nhat Hanh and walking meditation in a recent edition our Cycling 360 Podcast….good stuff.
Thank again for sharing your story.
Darryl
One of the best bits of advice I had about those thoughts is to look at them and logically question them. I also tried to supress or hope they would go away but they came back stronger. If someone says, “Whatever you do, don’t look behind you,” what is the one thing you really want to do? I think it is the same with those thoughts.
Thich Nhat Hanh has some good ideas on meditation in other places, other than sitting on your bum. He believes that everything can be a situation for meditation. Certainly where else are you more aware of your breathe than on the bike? :o)
http://www.lionsroar.com/how-to-meditate-thich-nhat-hanh-on-walking-meditation/
I may have mentioned it before on your comments but before I started riding I would get incredible headaches most days. Whether it is the exercise, getting away from the computer or something else, I certainly feel clearer. Something about movement that makes you realise this is the here and now. Other worries of things that may happen are just that, possibilities but it isn’t happening now. Plus, when a truck passes you too close you realise how lucky to be alive you are.