How do you feel when cycling?

[Webbo2]

I have rocked climbed for over 50 years when on top of my game I would solo 30 plus routes of very severe above up to E3 and would experience mind and body complete unison. Similar when doing sports routes that I had rehearsal well before Red pointing and feeling coordination and physical effort were on perfect harmony.
Cycling requires a bit more grunt at times to push through especially when battling in to a head wind which becomes a head battle as it would be easy to back off. Which I often got climbing which then becomes “ Should I or can I or what if”
I sometimes are out for a ride on road I’ve been down dozens of times and see something and think how long has that been there and it’s usually it’s been there forever.😂

 

[lazybloke]

I want to be where Ming rides!

Some of those sensations are marvellous. I like the earthy smells of leafmould when cycling past woodland at night; cold air flowing off fields; the heat in the tarmac of a south-facing hillside that you can still sense radiating up at you when cycling at 4am the next day; and oh yes, the night sky on a crisp winter commute.

I quite like daytime rides too, in case you're wondering.

 

[All uphill]

I feel like a middle aged sex god when out on the bike.

But where would you find one?

 

[Ming the Merciless]

I feel like a middle aged sex god when out on the bike.

Time to ride over to your local greasy spoon, and ask for the dish of the day special?

 

[ColinJ]

But where would you find one?

Great minds think alike!

 

[All uphill]

When I ride my bike my attention turns outwards and my inner dialogue seems to pause. I make decisions, of course, and observe what's around me, but I get a rest from myself.

Unlike others here I can replay a ride in detail in my mind for a couple of days afterwards, sometimes longer. I can look at a photo from a cycle tour two years ago and remember exactly how it felt when the rain started, or when I saw a buzzard.

 

[a.twiddler]

When I ride my bike my attention turns outwards and my inner dialogue seems to pause. I make decisions, of course, and observe what's around me, but I get a rest from myself.

Unlike others here I can replay a ride in detail in my mind for a couple of days afterwards, sometimes longer. I can look at a photo from a cycle tour two years ago and remember exactly how it felt when the rain started, or when I saw a buzzard.

I think this is why I enjoy writing up my rides, so I can relive those feelings and hope that others can feel some of it too. Even some of the shortest rides can give me those feelings, doesn't necessarily have to be an epic one.

 

[yello]

I might have to restart my cycling diary. My memory is carp.

 

[ColinJ]

Unlike others here I can replay a ride in detail in my mind for a couple of days afterwards, sometimes longer. I can look at a photo from a cycle tour two years ago and remember exactly how it felt when the rain started, or when I saw a buzzard.

I experienced something like that last week in Devon. I was climbing a little hill coming up to where I took a left turn and I suddenly had a flashback to doing the same climb and turn a few days before. A middle-aged couple had been walking up there ahead of me. I hadn't taken much notice of them at the time but in the mental replay I saw that she was grumpy with him because he was dithering about looking at a map on an iPad.

I have experienced the sensation of riding on auto-pilot. I remember leaving work on a 24 km return commute and seemingly the next moment I was arriving home. I had spent the entire 45 minutes thinking about work and hadn't noticed a stiff climb, a rapid descent, 2 sets of lights, or the rush hour traffic. I was pretty startled!

Another time, I did a long 15% climb that normally hurts me quite a lot. I had been lost in thought and arrived at the summit without having even noticing the climb! It made me realise that probably more than 50% of suffering on the bike is in the head rather than in the body.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

But where would you find one?

Well @Drago seems to think there is one in his house!!!!

(sorry - had to be said!)

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

One of the feeling I get is one that might be totally absent before I start

i.e. sometimes I feel lethargic and tired and just do not have the energy to ride anywhere

then when I start it all clicks into place and my body sort of says
"Oh right - hmm - OK then enter cycling mode "
and suddenly I feel I can ride for hours
(unless a nice café might appear, obviously!)

and when I get home I drop down a bit but still feel much better than I would otherwise

 

[a.twiddler]

One of the feeling I get is one that might be totally absent before I start

i.e. sometimes I feel lethargic and tired and just do not have the energy to ride anywhere

then when I start it all clicks into place and my body sort of says
"Oh right - hmm - OK then enter cycling mode "
and suddenly I feel I can ride for hours
(unless a nice café might appear, obviously!)

and when I get home I drop down a bit but still feel much better than I would otherwise

Sometimes it's so comfortable on that warm sofa it takes a bit of willpower to get the bike out but once rolling, hopefully everything just follows on.

 

[CentralCommuter]

I get that people may not share the same experiences nor use the same language to describe those experiences. Tbh, it does seem weird even to me (a bit nonsense even) to be using the language I use to describe how I feel on a bike. And to be sure it's not always like that. Sometimes, it's a downright slog BUT when I do enter 'that place' it is quite something 'else'. Lets just say it's not something I would experience in the aisle at Safeways , mainly because I haven't shopped in Safeways for years, but you get my drift.

I don’t think there’s been a Safeways for a very long time.

 

[Rusty Nails]

I feel like a middle aged sex god when out on the bike.

Do you ever get one?

 

[Alex321]

One of the feeling I get is one that might be totally absent before I start

i.e. sometimes I feel lethargic and tired and just do not have the energy to ride anywhere

then when I start it all clicks into place and my body sort of says
"Oh right - hmm - OK then enter cycling mode "
and suddenly I feel I can ride for hours
(unless a nice café might appear, obviously!)

and when I get home I drop down a bit but still feel much better than I would otherwise

Very much the same for me at times.

I will sometimes be quite reluctant to go out, but once I do, I will usually have a grin on my face for a large part of the ride, and the good feelings persist for quite a while after I get back.