Mental block

[gasgasman]

Anyone ever have a mental block when riding?

I've had one for the past six months. I just couldn't get up to my usual speed.
Seems like I had this mental block about wrecking and was riding timid.
Since I was going slower, it was very exhausting to ride. The bike would just beat me up.

My past couple rides, I finally am over it and back up to speed.
Life is great again.

 

[_Hammy]

Not as such but I've learnt to concentrate on just "flowing" in the first 20min or so of each ride.

I find after 20min or so or the first break I ride heaps better (body has warmed up etc...)

I used to get really down on myself when I couldnt gel with the bike and made heaps of gumby mistakes, but just learnt to live with it as part of the warm up / engage the brain process and to remember that it's not going to be like that all day (unless I get super uptight about it). I find it's important to not push yourself during this period


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[jhendr3702]

i have... after tearing up my shoulder... very timid on big log crossings (which was where I crashed and did shoulder injury..)

back where I was before...

 

[Jakobi]

Some days things just don't click, and it seems to happen with just about everyone in our group.

As for extended periods of losing the magic, I could probably say I'm there now. I haven't been pushing to get quicker, and coupled with riders who are pushing each other along it feels like I'm tapering off and getting slower every ride. Couple that up with life being busy and seat time also reducing from where it was and it can feel like you're taking a couple steps backwards.

But at the end of every ride, everyone is exhausted, everyone has a big grin, and the difference between being super quick and just ok is never more than a couple of minutes, so for me I'm just happy to be out clocking up the hours whenever I can.

Now racing is another thing, and when I was actively trying to improve speed I found the more I focussed on going fast, the more tense I'd become and less speed I'd carry. For me, relaxed usually translates to faster.

 

[CDN Rick]

I know the feeling well. I had some major family problems early last spring. I often found my thoughts wandering and having anxious thoughts while riding without noticing my focus changing... Next thing you know I'm losing control on some small log or an easy off camber turn. Gotta shake my head and concentrate on the trail when I see it coming.

Its winter up here right now. But I'm hoping this coming riding season goes better for me. I learned a lot last year, but never felt like I hit my groove.

Do you ever find out what it was from? Did you have a weird wreck?

 

[shang]

I had this happen on the mountain bike last summer. I crashed pretty bad, then again a week later. After that I had a tough time with my confidence. And just like dirt biking, confidence is a huge part of it.

I always have a day here or there where I just feel like I'm half a corner behind in everything I do. That probably has more to do with my diet and lack of sleep than anything else though.

 

[gasgasman]

Do you ever find out what it was from? Did you have a weird wreck?

I never did figure it out. I didn't have any out of the ordinary wrecks.
It may have been lack of seat time. Our trails were closed for most of 2016 due to excessive rain fall.

Lots of great responses guys.
Good to see I'm not loony.

 

[gasgasman]

Not as such but I've learnt to concentrate on just "flowing" in the first 20min or so of each ride.

I find after 20min or so or the first break I ride heaps better (body has warmed up etc...)

I used to get really down on myself when I couldnt gel with the bike and made heaps of gumby mistakes, but just learnt to live with it as part of the warm up / engage the brain process and to remember that it's not going to be like that all day (unless I get super uptight about it). I find it's important to not push yourself during this period


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LOL. The group I ride with, it's a race from jump street.
One little bobble and they're gone.

I do get some arm pump for the first 5 miles, from riding tight.

 

[muddertrucker]

I have now torn both acl's while riding. I'll be getting surgery for my right knee within the next 6 months. I'm pretty sure when I start riding again that a severe mental block will be present.

 

[memphis2857]

Mine wasn't so much a mental block but "lack of wanna". In 2015 I raced every race I could find within 4 hours of me and trail rode on the few weekends there wasn't a race. At the end of the year I had racked up almost 30 races and 125 hours on my bike. At the start of the 2016 season I found myself not caring one bit how I finished in a race and more often then not about halfway through the race I would just pull off and say "it wasn't fun so I quit". Also during trail rides I found myself in the back of the pack just meandering along and counting down the time until we got back to the truck. Then in August of last year I raced the Tennessee Knockout Extreme Enduro and my passion for dirt bikes was reignited but I had a totally different riding interest. I now love the hard stuff and could careless about racing an xc race on beat up quad trails. I am back to riding as much as possible and on Mondays I'm already looking forward to next weekends ride. I find myself in the gym and eating better again now too. This year my focus will be on the few extreme races we have in the states and as many gnarly trail rides as I can put together.


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[gasgasman]

Rod.
I thought the idea of riding was to clear your head?

 

[shang]

I typically find that my time on the bike is almost like meditation. I can only really focus on the one task, staying upright. Processing the terrain as fast as I can. But, if I have a lot going on in my life or my stress level is higher than usual, then I find I struggle to focus. I still feel better after getting out for a ride reguardless though.

 

[CDN Rick]

The last several years I have experienced the same thing. Total focus on the race until 3 laps in, then suddenly I'm thinking about bike orders, dealer visits, airports, you name it. Everything but the race. Now that my days of enduro and hare scrambles have just about come to an end...even when I'm out just trail riding... my mind still wanders.

I still love to ride, but not being able to stay focused is a real problem.

Yes, I know. Very frustrating. Guess I have too much going on in my head

Don'tcha all find it so cute that he worries about getting us our toys and goodies so much that he can't ride straight! Thanks Rod!