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Find Your Bike Mojo
Three tips to get on that mountain bike again.
By Selene Yeager
Back in the '80s and '90s, we called it "the zone." Now all the hype is about "flow," that magical place where you, your bike and the rolling path beneath your tires are one. It's when you're the first up the mountain and the first down, and you're barely even trying. How can you score some flow for yourself? "If I knew that, I'd retire a very wealthy man," says Sean McCann, Ph.D., a sports psychologist who helps mold the gray matter of Olympic riders at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. But he does have a few ideas:
Hover below 100%. You'll never find flow if you're jamming your gears at max effort trying to crank as fast as humanly possible. "Riding a bike requires technique and finesse for flow," says McCann. "And a 95% effort is smoother and faster than 100%."
Focus on form. You'll find flow faster if you keep your mind on the task at hand, rather than letting your brain meander or worse, worry if you're riding fast enough. "Concentrate on pedaling smooth circles, picking good lines, and riding cleanly," says McCann.
Kick it. Flow is joy. That means going, "Wheeee!" (or at least feeling like going, "Wheeee!") as you ride. Sometimes it's as simple as remembering why you got into the sport in the first place, ditching your training goals for a while, and just kicking it for fun again.
Originally published in Mountain Bike magazine. Copyright © Rodale, Inc. 2002
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