In a recent conversation with my bike coach, we got to talking about focus versus observation. I was about to participate in my first ever mountain bike race and was deeply scared of crashing.
“What’s making you scared?”
“There are so many ways I can fall. My tire can skid out in the mud or hit a tree root at the wrong angle. I find it really hard to look out for all those things yet maintain any kind of speed.”
“How far ahead do you look while you’re biking?”
“I look down, right next to my front wheel.”
Of course, that was the crux of it. I was too focused on each little obstacle as it came up and not looking far enough ahead to scan for them in advance. Coach explained that this anticipation was key to achieving a state of “flow”.
Ever since I was a child, I’ve been looking at my feet. I still remember my mother constantly telling me to pick my head up as we’d walk down the street. I’ve always been “in my own head” and studied abstract math at university. My husband has tried and failed multiple times to explain to me the difference between an “SUV” and a “minivan” – all I see is a “big car”.
In short – I can focus through any and all distractions, but my observation skills are lousy. So, I’ve been learning to pick my head up – both on the bike and for life in general.
Not that I’m remotely depressed but you can’t beat this Charlie Brown strip for a better summary of mind-body interaction:
Why that has anything to do with my career
I started out as a runner, moving into triathlon a few years ago & doing the whole Ironman thing, before jumping into bike racing to improve my handling skills. I only meant to do one or two races, but that was nearly two years ago and I’ve ended up staying…
I believe that one of the great pleasures in life is being around people who inject you with enthusiasm on any given topic, no matter your prior interest. I’ve been lucky enough to find such people in the biking world and have become hooked. It’s this gorgeous blend of art, science and guts and I’m absolutely loving it. From optimal position on the bike, to positioning for the sprint, to tensioning wheel spokes – I’m learning whatever I can, when I can.
Meantime, I spent the summer working like crazy in my day job to get a new process up and running. This meant emerging from my little analytical shell to influence and promote across multiple divisions, as well as to guide and motivate my young team. Achieving success felt like I’d been given new superpowers…I realized I could do more than I had thought possible. Specifically it got me thinking that maybe I could “go it alone” one day, and maybe I could take elements of what I enjoy the most to build my own business, and maybe some of those elements could be bike coaching and bike fitting and writing…let’s see…eyes up, look ahead!
Eyes Up, Look Ahead 