Being in "the Zone"

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James Burleigh

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Last night after the Napa group ride, I wrote an e-mail to a fellow rider, a BMW IBA guy who usually smokes me on the local twisties, and made the following comment:

"Had a great ride yesterday. What a beautiful day! Did Skaggs Springs Rd for the first time. Easily one of the top--okay--
the
top Bay Area road I've ever been on: Long, positively cambered sweepers, good pavement, and no cross traffic. I was with a group of about seven FJR riders, and man these guys (we) were flying along that road. Also, surprisingly, no squids or LEOs. What a rush that road was! I was totally in the zone, hitting textbook enter-high-&-kiss-the-apex lines and just flicking the bike back and forth effortlessly."

To which my buddy wrote back: "When you were 'in the zone' did you find yourself using any of the techniques that Pridmore taught us, or anything from Hough or Code? What goes through your head when you're riding in the zone?"

That was a fun question to ponder. Now, whether I was really ever "in the zone," or what that even means, I have no idea (that's the philosophy major in me speaking). But here's what I responded to him:

"The zone question is interesting to think about. The seven of us in a line (I was second to last) were moving at the same rhythm about 30 yards apart. It was like a choreographed dance, as each of us flew left and right in concert through the turns. I believe most salient as I think back on the feeling and of what it meant to be 'in the zone' is being 100% (and I truly mean 100%--not 95% like when you're commuting to work and thinking about something else for a moment)--it's about being 100% engaged in what you're doing: You see entry and exit points, and are aware of the road surface.
 
"You are totally one with the in-the-moment physical and mental activity of moving a high-performance machine along a road as fast as you can within your skill level and the bike's performance limits. Your mind and body are completely in sync with the bike, with its clutch, bars, throttle, front brake. The bike is part of your body. Just as your mind wills your hands and feet to move, so it wills the bike to move just as you choose. You shift left and right, feathering the clutch and working the front brake with two fingers to adjust speed in small increments.
 
"You look through a long positively cambered sweeper, adjust your body, lean the bike over, and roll on the throttle. As the bike responds, you feel it grip the road in a way you know is optimizing the physics of its tires, traction, suspension, and you roll on more throttle because you know it will only further optimize performance while at the same time increasing speed, which yields a feeling of mastery and exhilaration as you sling-shot through the curve.
 
So to answer your question about what goes through your head, I think the answer is something like, "Nothing. You aren't thinking; you're just doing." Maybe that's what it means to be in the zone: You just do it, and you do it flawlessly, without thinking, like a gymnast doing a 10.0 floor exercise routine.
 
"As for Hough and Pridmore and Code, yes, absolutely. From Hough comes braking and setting entrance speed with the front brake before leaning the bike over, entering high, and apexing late in case you misjudge the apex (decreasing). From Pridmore comes focusing on being smooth, keeping up on my toes on the pegs, and keeping the revs up close to redline to achieve immediate response from the throttle in either direction. From Code comes picking a visual turning point and flicking the bike there, chosing a single line through the turn (not making multiple small corrections), and rolling on the throttle smoothly and evenly 'as soon as possible.'"
Jb

 
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So to answer your question about what goes through your head, I think the answer is something like, "Nothing. You aren't thinking; you're just doing." Maybe that's what it means to be in the zone: You just do it, and you do it flawlessly, without thinking, like a gymnast doing a 10.0 floor exercise routine

Zone? Not having to think about the ride, rather I think 'ride'.

Hard to do on the street,because traffic conditions jolt you back to reality. Enduro riders and I'm sure the LD guys get it. Endorphine high.

I miss it.

 
I'm pretty much just focusing on the visual input and trying to look in the right places. Closer and far, almost simultaneously, so as to look where I want to go and check for road surfaces debris at the same time. A lot of the other stuff becomes almost thoughtless, like walking. Just look and enjoy, like the last time I followed professional rider ExSkiBum over closed course Monitor Pass!

 
Your mind and body are completely in sync with the bike, with its clutch, bars, throttle, front brake. The bike is part of your body.
Jb
That is exactly the way that I feel. There is a road that I have traveled my entire riding life and there is one corner on that road specifically that I got 100% right only once in my life. Every time I approach it now, I try to replicate that moment and I just can't do it...just can't find "The Zone".

 
I don't get "In the ZONE" very often when I am on the bike. I consciously do too much thinking while riding.

I can tell you from my competitive shooting that when you are in the zone you are thinking about what you are doing "NOW." Which is almost like not thinking at all. The best competitors in any sport will tell you that to be in the "Zone" you have to live in the minute, or better yet the second. There is no past or future, only the now, which by the time you think about it has already gone, and if you are thinking about it, you are no longer in the zone. In shooting we talk a lot about what you "See" ans "Need to See."

No question it is a "Zen thing."

 
I, too, don't often get in 'the zone'. Although I am concentrating on what's going on and the road ahead, I can't seem to help myself from thinking about the bad crap (what's that dark spot on the road, what's ahead of this turn that I can't see, did i just see a bog forest rat off to the side of the road, etc).

 
Being "in the zone" is primary reason I ride motorcycles. :D

Usually a solo ride on remote roads will get me "in to" the zone. Many times my SO asks where I've been for the last several hours and I have motorcycle view "visions" of the curves/vistas, but not of the locals or the time just spent.

I have never been in the zone on a group ride or in city congestion rides. Too many distractions [i guess?!?].

rublenoon

 
Excellent post, Hans. BTDT, but its very difficult to explain in terms that anyone/everyone might understand unless they've experienced the same. And you're correct in that I don't "think" about anything as everything is in extremely sharp focus. The more interesting afterthought for me is that once having done this my mind has somehow prioritized every other thought/decision that were floating in my sub-conscience. Thought it sounds rather metaphysical it seems that when my thoughts are intensely focused on a certain experience (as you are describing) other things clamoring for attention get placed in some sort of order.

Actually, the last couple of times have been riding with OrangevaleFJR (Hwy 36 was an absolute hoot!) when there was no worry about other riders, just 2 or 3 of us and, as you said, picking the lines and looking through the corners to set up for the next turn (All on a private, closed course), everything is working in concert and the brake/lean/throttle roll-on/transitions are smoooooth. Of course, you were following Mr. Yew-noe-who, the "Big Dog" hisself! :yahoo:

 
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I was in the "Zone" once. Turns out it was a No-Parking "Zone" and they told me to move. :blink:

 
I was in the Zone once, going to WFO5. Turns out it was just a side effect of the 114 F heat...

 
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In the zone means 'Now'. There is nothing else. You are just doing what you have trained your mind and body to do for the current situation.

I have been there a few times riding. I felt like the bike knew what I wanted to do, and did it. I was also in the zone in the second or two after wrecking my last bike. Everything was in slow-mo. I was able to do everything I needed to, to avoid serious injury. I remember doing almost everything I studied from the "A Twist of the Wrist" in the chapter "How to Fall". My leathers told the story very well , too.

 
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