Whether you’re riding on Ninth Street, the New Jersey Turnpike, or the local track, getting and keeping your head in the game is essential for personal safety. Like, obviously! Fortunately, just as with circuit training at the gym, you can build your ability to concentrate by adopting certain practices, both off and on the bike.
Psychologist Dr. Relly Nadler, Psy.D. specializes in neuro-linguistic programming, a training process that uses behavioral “modeling” to improve personal performance. “Many athletes use breathing techniques to enhance mental focus,” Dr. Nadler explains. “For example, diaphragmatic breathing activates the parasympathetic [calming] nervous system, which quiets the sympathetic [fight or flight] nervous system. Doing this directly improves focus and concentration.”
Eric Bostrom owns four AMA Road Racing and Flat Track championships and now leads the Fastrack Riders University. “There has to be a separation between daydreaming and focused riding,” he says. “When you put the visor down, that is where you engage.” To stay sharp during a long race, Bostrom often made up a game, such as surpassing a braking marker or nailing a certain apex. “Even if it was for just one turn, it would keep my mind focused,” he says.
Jason Raines, a six-time AMA National Hare Scrambles champion and founder of the off-road Raines’ Riding University, says paying close attention to your balance on the bike helps focus you. As well, Raines used three words—intensity, focus, push—during races to keep his concentration strong. Even if you don’t race, simply repeating the word “focus” during everyday rides can help you do just that.
Here are four tips to help you ride more in focus.
1) Create a “Focus Ritual.” Whether it’s as you close your helmet visor, don goggles, or hit the starter, creating a pre-ride focusing ritual can boost concentration. Similarly, adopting and then repeating a meaningful word or phrase can refocus you, as needed, anytime mid-ride.
2) Connect With the Bike. Fully tune into the bike. Find your seating “sweet spot,” feel the machine through all its touch points, and force yourself to stay ahead of circumstances, rather than playing a more reactive role.
3) Make It a Game. When something’s fun, we stay engaged. Working on your lines, perfecting clutch-work, shifts, or braking, anticipating nearby traffic, sensing road feel or grip, or even just seeking the perfect spot within a freeway lane can all help.
4) Breathe. Before or even during a ride, inhaling to the count of four, holding the breath, and then exhaling—both also to the count of four—yields a calming effect that enhances fous. Diaphragmatic breathing (a.k.a. “belly breaths”) also enhances concentration.
