What are you thinking while riding?

Hahaha I know the feeling. I've been at the track and making lap after lap totally unfocused and thinking about work, food, booze, or whatever random thing that's in my head at the moment.
I usually stop when I realize wtf I'm up to.....

I start with thinking about the track and usually end up singing some random song I have no idea what made me think of. Usually also when I ride my best which is weird, never notice until I'm riding really good and notice I've been singing

It could be the subconscious way of relaxing you, if you're a nervous rider. Or on the flip side, you could just be way over relaxed..lol
I don't wander at all while riding, there's way too much going on for that.

Braaaaappp bbrraaaaaappp bbbrraaaaappp braap brap brrraaaapppp

And then sometimes 'oh shit'

That means its time to go faster.

Wondering why a kid on a 65 is beating me on my 450

Race and rallye drivers have it as well. I recall reading an article about a rallye car driver in which he said, that he sometimes catches himself enjoying the views while going insanely fast, and it's usually the fastest he's been all day on that particular part of the track. It's a good thing, means that you let your instincts do the riding, instead of overthinking stuff.

I TRY to think, "look ahead, look where I want to go, DON'T look at that tree/rock/etc." but mostly, "where is the checkered flag, I don't want to do another lap!" This is during our 2 hr hare scramble races....

Riding moto I usually don't have that problem unless I'm in the lead and then I wonder when the stupid white flag is coming out...when snowmobiling I often catch myself thinking about other things and then tell my self to pay attention!

That's when your in the zone, when racing or just riding for fun you shouldn't be planing and calculating every move threats for practice. Many top level racers have expounded on this, I recall a interview with Nicky Hayden on this that was classic Nicky, I'll look it up.

"HOLY SHIT I almost ate shit right there"

I dont think at all. Just do.

When we had my daughter 3 years ago. For the whole year after I would catch myself playing the stupid Elmo and baby show songs n shit in my head when I was riding. Fak

coastlinecascot wrote:

Wondering why a kid on a 65 is beating me on my 450

Hahahahaha same here.

Man, I'm just thinking about not breaking my neck. I do think about breathing and technique, but that's about it. One time Mike Alessi went around me in a sand corner at NFMX, and all I could think about for about two hours was how a human being could go that fast on a dirt scooter. He did not shut off at all and absolutely buried me in roost.

Flip109 wrote:

When we had my daughter 3 years ago. For the whole year after I would catch myself playing the stupid Elmo and baby show songs n shit in my head when I was riding. Fak

Haha brilliant mate! As a few people have said it generally seems to coincide with riding well and just being relaxed but that sure must be good catching yourself on to singing those tunes!

I probably think about everything other than what I should be thinking about It's weird how much the mind wanders even in situations where you are concentrating. I always get random songs stuck in my head when I'm riding