Riding Nerves

JW381
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4/30/2014 11:19am Edited Date/Time 5/1/2014 7:20am
You guys still get a little anxious on ride days? I guess some of you guys get to ride often enough so maybe not. I've been at it for a while as often as possible and Istill get some butterflies when it comes time to pack up and head to the track. Apparently I enjoy it because I always go back haha.
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SEE ARE125
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4/30/2014 11:20am
Yeah. I think that feeling is what keeps me coming back. lol
IWreckALot
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4/30/2014 11:22am
Yeah I still get a little anxiety on ride days. I used to get so anxious about the starts I'd get light headed. I still have a difficult time while sitting on the line but once the flag waives, all that goes out the window and I can get to business. But I definitely get the butterflies on race days.

I've even tried telling myself to take it easy on the starts but I just can't keep myself from pushing that first corner.
dsmith
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way north, IN US
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4/30/2014 11:26am Edited Date/Time 4/30/2014 11:26am
I just picture everyone in their underware.....

The Shop

peelout
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4/30/2014 11:26am
change your tampon, puss
JW381
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4/30/2014 11:30am
peelout wrote:
change your tampon, puss
I was asking for a friend.....
yzjs7
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4/30/2014 11:33am Edited Date/Time 4/30/2014 11:33am
I think everyone gets a little nervous. It's a gnarly sport but the adrenaline rush in unreal. It takes me a half hour or so before I get comfortable or x amount of laps before I feel in the groove.
usp4u
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Karns City, PA US
4/30/2014 11:54am
Every time. Its pretty annoying.
jeffro503
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4/30/2014 12:01pm
You gotta have a little bit of those feelings my man.....it lets you know you're still alive.

It's the main reason most of us still ride if you think about it. If it wasn't exciting , with a little bit ( sometimes a lot ) of danger thrown into it......we would get bored.

Hell yeah I still get it. Appreciate that you can still do something that gets your blood flowing. a LOT of people can't do this sport , so I honestly feel privileged to be able to.
JW381
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4/30/2014 12:02pm
^well said PNW brother.
jeffro503
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4/30/2014 12:02pm
The race day nerves is what makes me wanna quit.
RV , Stewart , RD.....all of them get it to an extent. Learn to love it man!
jeffro503
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4/30/2014 12:02pm
JW381 wrote:
^well said PNW brother.
Right on!!
EricY
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Apex, NC US
4/30/2014 12:13pm
I don't ride as much as I should, so every time I get ready to go to the track, I start getting the nerves, and I finally start getting over it about the time to head home. Maybe if I rode more it would go away. Free and trail riding doesn't do it to me as much.
JW381
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4/30/2014 12:15pm
EricY wrote:
I don't ride as much as I should, so every time I get ready to go to the track, I start getting the nerves, and I...
I don't ride as much as I should, so every time I get ready to go to the track, I start getting the nerves, and I finally start getting over it about the time to head home. Maybe if I rode more it would go away. Free and trail riding doesn't do it to me as much.
Yeah when I go to the dunes I usually crack a beer or two and just relax and try to ride less embarrassing wheelies than usual. If I find a jump or a whooped out trail I wanna rip, then I do. No expectations tho which is a lot more leisure.
MXD
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4/30/2014 12:22pm
I think I'm the odd ball. I get more nervous on a practice day and I pump up on practice days too. But on on race day I'm all relaxed and I ride much better with almost no arm pump. I guess that's a good thing.
VET176
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4/30/2014 12:38pm
I'm OK until I get to the gate or turn off to the track. Then I shit my pants. I always carry some toilet paper.
disbanded
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4/30/2014 12:40pm
I spent my younger racing days trying to bottle up those nervous feelings and pretended I didn't have butterflies.

But when I shattered my ankle a few years ago and couldn't race for a long time - those nervous feelings are exactly what I missed the most.

The feeling of being ALIVE!
JM485
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4/30/2014 12:57pm
Absolutely! I don't race moto anymore but whenever I get up to the line for a harescramble or hillclimb I really have to work to calm myself down. I think it's good though, because that means you really care about what you are doing and want to do the best you can. I don't really think it's a fear of injury, but more of an anxiety because I want to do well, and there are so many things out of my control. I just try to focus on what I can do to make things go my way, there isn't really anything else you can do. It's really hard to put into words though, unless you have felt it it's impossible to explain to someone.
MarkF
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4/30/2014 1:06pm
I'm excited and happy to be doing what I love, but anxious and butterflies, not so much.
VET176
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4/30/2014 1:10pm
JM485 wrote:
Absolutely! I don't race moto anymore but whenever I get up to the line for a harescramble or hillclimb I really have to work to calm...
Absolutely! I don't race moto anymore but whenever I get up to the line for a harescramble or hillclimb I really have to work to calm myself down. I think it's good though, because that means you really care about what you are doing and want to do the best you can. I don't really think it's a fear of injury, but more of an anxiety because I want to do well, and there are so many things out of my control. I just try to focus on what I can do to make things go my way, there isn't really anything else you can do. It's really hard to put into words though, unless you have felt it it's impossible to explain to someone.
You did a great job explaining it mate. Cool
Darryl916
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Budds Creek, MD US
4/30/2014 1:13pm
I hate all the bullshit besides the actual riding. I'm not comfortable until I can stop thinking and start riding. Sitting around between motos sucks. I tend to over think and make tension for myself running thru all the what if's in my mind. My goal on race day is to try my best to think about anything OTHER than racing. It's nothing I can do sitting in the pits to make my race better anyway so just show up and "ride how you know how" is what I tell myself. As my results have become consistently better and I know I'm gonna be up front battling each moto the suppressing the nerves has become harder. It was easier when I had no expectations and didn't know where I would be mid pack somewhere.

I haven't been racing all my life so being competitive is really new to me.
Falcon
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4/30/2014 1:45pm
Hell yes, especially for the 1st moto. I usually mellow out by the time my 2nd moto rolls around.
Evoracer
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4/30/2014 2:16pm
I used to hurl sometimes before races when I was young. Now that I am old, doesn't matter. Often yawning before the start of a moto.
blusmbl
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4/30/2014 2:20pm
I just skull a couple Redbulls to get amped up for my +30 sit down trail riding. Still nervous though.
burnside
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4/30/2014 2:20pm
jeffro503 wrote:
You gotta have a little bit of those feelings my man.....it lets you know you're still alive. It's the main reason most of us still ride...
You gotta have a little bit of those feelings my man.....it lets you know you're still alive.

It's the main reason most of us still ride if you think about it. If it wasn't exciting , with a little bit ( sometimes a lot ) of danger thrown into it......we would get bored.

Hell yeah I still get it. Appreciate that you can still do something that gets your blood flowing. a LOT of people can't do this sport , so I honestly feel privileged to be able to.
Good post man!

Funny I was thinking the same thing a few weeks ago, sat in the van putting my knee pads on with the sound of screaming dirt bikes in the background lingering like some impending war zone I was about to join. Going through these motions, being scared, anxious and pushing through to have a shit load of fun and hopefully leave the track feeling satisfied in your efforts and physically exhausted. Where the hell are going to get that buzz? The noise, the fumes, the adrenaline, the aching muscles, the blisters, dusty bogies, that smug feeling you get driving home from the track having conquered a few of your fears, imagining your next session and the areas you want to progress at... Like you, I feel privileged to be able to play on the scoots. Nothing blasts the cobwebs like a day of moto!
Titan1
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Lehi, UT US
4/30/2014 2:24pm
Moto doesn't have a patent on the nerves...I'm racing round 5 of the National Hare and Hound series on Saturday...and I'm already feeling those nerves, had them all week. And it happens every race.

Like some others, it makes me not want to race this weekend...

I never get them on practice/ride days...just for race day...and they ALWAYS affect how I ride during the race. Practice days I ride loose and relaxed, which means I can ride faster...for longer), during the race I'm always riding tight...so I get tired sooner.

The hardest part of racing (besides the obvious lack of talent) is the mental game. Mentally remaining calm...mentally staying in that happy place where I'm having "fun" (riding loose and relaxed)...and, since I do hare and hounds, mentally forcing myself to charge-despite the throbbing legs and back, and blisters-when I'm in the middle of nowhere all by myself (its easy to charge when people are around and watching).
4/30/2014 2:25pm
If you don't have those feelings for the remainder of your racing life something wrong with you.
Seamorbutts
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4/30/2014 2:32pm Edited Date/Time 4/30/2014 2:36pm
yzjs7 wrote:
I think everyone gets a little nervous. It's a gnarly sport but the adrenaline rush in unreal. It takes me a half hour or so before...
I think everyone gets a little nervous. It's a gnarly sport but the adrenaline rush in unreal. It takes me a half hour or so before I get comfortable or x amount of laps before I feel in the groove.
Just like Sewart.. And by getting in the groove, I'm assuming thats while you warm up on the pee wee track?
4/30/2014 2:40pm
I feel more comfortable on the line than I do pretty much anywhere else.

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