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When I'm feeling a 'bikers high' it's usually:
"Allez! Allez! Allez!"
I've even said it out loud!
When I'm struggling it's a fairly simple:
"Do it!" Over and over again in my head.
Yeah, not real interesting, but it does the trick! My favorite is the joyful "Allez!" exclamations though. Just reminds me how much I love being on my bike.
Just recently, when I'm the first one taking off with a group, I've been saying, "Catch me if you can!" Sometimes we are about to climb and there's no doubt whatsoever that I will be caught and passed immediately. But on a downhill, watch out! :D
Near the end of a 72 mile ride, after having done 74 the previous day, and now at the end it seemed there was hill after hill after hill, I finally started yelling out, "I LOVE hills! Hills are my FAVORITE! Bring on the hills!" It started out as a goofy thing to say for no good reason, but I decided it really did mentally help! :p
I just finished riding in misty rain. I could have quit and gone back home, but I kept telling myself, "I won't melt!". Actually it felt great! I love to ride in a misty rain, especially on a hot day. I've gotten just as wet on hot days from sweat!
Mine is: "It's only temporary pain!"
I have also gone mad-silly declaring loudly my love for hills on a long ride that seemed to end straight up hill the last 10 miles. It actually worked for me, too.
My mantra is "pedal soft".
Breathe In, Breathe Out
I try to control my breathing, to keep myself from riding into an asthma attack.
This cracked me up:
I tend to fall into PJ Harvey's Victory or Moby's Lift me up. But I definitely like TUP.Quote:
Originally Posted by kenyonchris
Right now, it's "Ow, my butt...ow...my butt...ooh, a squirrel!":p
"Push the fatigue out with every pedal". and "Spin, spin, spin"
When I ride I have a goal of how many miles I plan to go. Many times - just as I'm about to meet that goal a little voice in my head says, "You can go another mile!"
I'll usually push my self and go at least 1 more mile. Today that little voice wouldn't stop and I went 10 more.
It was hot and sunny today with an occasional cloud for shade. I teach pre-kindergarten so children's songs often pop up in my head.
There's a song that goes,
"Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun, please shine down on me..."
As I was riding I was hoping for more clouds so in my head I sang,
"Mr. Cloud, Cloud, Mr. Fluffy Cloud, please hang over me..."
Sometimes if it's windy I tell myself "i am a leaf on the wind" (sometimes I'll say it out loud)... though I know that didn't end well in the movie, it mentally calms me down. I have done the same "BRING IT ON" stuff that others have mentioned if the conditions are nasty (I've done that running, too, and mentally it's helped).
I talk to my bike a lot. Sometimes I'm concerned people are listening. Mostly I don't care. ;) It's usually encouraging stuff, like "we're doing great" or "we're almost there" or "let's do this hill." If I say it out loud, it has to be positive. Sometimes if I'm riding with others who are behind me (or I pass) or need to be "pulled" through difficult terrain (hills, wind) I'll talk to them, too, but I don't want someone to feel like I'm talking "down" to them. Sometimes normal conversation, too, but that's usually just a distraction, albeit often a welcome one.
Sometimes I sing "she'll be comin' round the mountain when she comes" when riding hilly terrain. It makes me smile. I always imagine people coming out to meet me and all kinds of silly stuff.
I do make up songs sometimes, or make up songs to the words of other songs. One day when I saw a snake, I was making up a "badger, badger, badger badger, mushroom mushroom! oooh it's a snake!" song (a web video on weebls-stuff.com) except with marmots, snakes, and something other than mushrooms that took me a while to figure out (thus I sang the song for multiple miles of distracting enjoyment, and here I can't even remember what I substituted for mushrooms).
Colby- I love that you are a fan of firefly/serenity too! :D
I have to admit I didn't watch it when it was on TV, and it was the movie that got me into it. I wasn't a huge Buffy/Angel fan (and I also admit that I'm not watching Dollhouse), but after I saw the movie I had to go back and watch the series. Something about the movie was just a good combination of campy, sci-fi, future, past... it was great.Quote:
Originally Posted by Urlea
end hijack! ;)
I like "No chain, no gain!" and, on hills, I keep telling myself "The hills can't get bigger, but I can get fitter!"
I just focus on breathing when it comes to hills - I measure each breath and each number of cranks per - and keep it super even. I kick tail on hills - I pass everyone - but then everyone passes me on the downhill so it all evens out. :cool: