Rider mental preparation?

[crazyhorse]

yeah, i was thinking about taking 3 mths off....even got a letter telling me it was a good idea. Maybe I should pray more

SOunds like praying isn't gonna help you at all

[crazyhorse]

I don't pray before a ride, but have on occasion been moved to offer a thanks after one.

Ditto,

[avgas]

I have a talk to her. See if she is ok. Sometimes she will tell me something is up before the ride - rough idle or strange feel to the ride.
Right now she is being a real bitch and giving me the silent treatment. I have to shove liquor down her throat to make her talk. Even then she chokes and coughs like smoker.

[Tone165]

I'm certainly not religious,but believe in taking a mentally positive approach.One of the most important things I've learned riding trials is that you have to believe you can do it,picture it in your mind and make it happen.Any self doubt leads to disaster,you need to stay positive all the time.(works in life too,but I 'm not too good at that part.) So I say affirmations (non religious prayers I guess) about how well the ride is going to go,my good reactions and being observant of road hazards,I talk to my bike,telling it what a great machine it is and that I trust it's decisions for my well being.Mental preparation is everything.

So I'm not the only looney in here! This is pretty much what I do....and a fair bit of singing!

[wbks]

Post a helmet cam so we can tell if you're riding kamikaze or not

[slofox]

Pray? What's that?

Hell, doesn't matter how I feel before I get aboard, once I get to the end of the drive it all feels better. If I'm feeling a little tired or flaky I just ride slower than ever...seems to work - so far.

[gwigs]

I pray that I don,t see blue and red lights in my mirrors...

[Bikemad]

ditto gwigs

[cheesemethod]

I visualise a near miss I had recently, and focus strongly on the action I took that saved me from ending up in a hospital bed. I hope that by reenforcing the image of avoiding an accident will allow me to continue avoiding accidents in future. I don't imagine negative scenarios, but then again I also try not get caught up in a fantasy that is so positive that it makes me forget the risks of this rewarding hobby.

[OutForADuck]

OH I just get moving.. then I feel how she is working under me... "listen" to the tyres.... "feel"the engine.... let it sooth me and soon we are in a rythm together.

If we are not... then I slowly ride home and park up, because we are just not talking today

Oh.. and you want to know about the bike as well right????

[Cheshire Cat]

I like the noise the stand makes when you flick it up XD

[huff3r]

I just get on, do all my gear up and go..... mental preperation? I'm always prepared

[Dean]

The night before I go for a ride or just a hour before I like to get in touch with Nature and my emotions/thoughts. Some nights Id just steer at the stars some days Id just have a quite minute of meditation by pondering on the route I will be taking, riding techniques, think of my family.

Just like soldiers that would be waiting in the trenches, our life is like that isn't it. We hear all the shit going on around us we grow with our soldiers by our side and we fear the day we have to walk in what scares us, there's a period of silence when we think we are safe, but when the whistle blows you got to get out on the battlefield and what happens, happens.

Also having a good standing with your family before you ride should be a must! Give your mum a hug or leave them a nice voicemail saying you love them and are going for a ride.

[Ypawa]

Hmm...normally I check my bike out first,no probs, gear up, txt one of our kids either Hastings or Napier and tell em we`ll be riding their ways and calling in sometime for a coffee & a hug with the moko`s if theyre home, else, generally let them know where we are heading to, cause all our kids want to know where we are or going.. Sometimes I do wonder in the back of my mind what the traffics going be like for the day & how many sunday drivers are we going to come across.