[2heavy]

Are you a cyclist who has experienced riding in the zone?
If so, what is it? Can you initiate it?

[kurisitaru]

Zone?

[2heavy]

The zone, also known as 'the flow'. Similar the the 'runner's high', but is said to be different.

[Mrs Snark]

I cycle quite a bit, but never get the same high from biking that I do from running. I think I have to focus on everything around me too much, for safety's sake, so my mind never empties or relaxes. I don't live in a very bike friendly area, half the time I feel like I'm risking me life when I'm out there.

I have, however, gotten into an almost meditative zone lap swimming in an Olympic pool when I was training for a tri. Boy was that nice. My brain was nice and empty, the feel of the water flowing over me was so soothing, the muffled sounds really helped -- really lovely. I wish I had a lap pool at my house, I'd swim alot if I did.

[nonameslob]

I think I experienced this on my first "long" ride (10 miles, I'm not much of a cyclist!) I was going faster than I'd ever gone and it just felt like I could go on forever! Everything else was just flying by and all I could see was straight ahead, everything else was a blur. It was pretty cool. I would love to get that feeling again.

[2heavy]

Originally Posted by Mrs Snark

I cycle quite a bit, but never get the same high from biking that I do from running. I think I have to focus on everything around me too much, for safety's sake, so my mind never empties or relaxes. I don't live in a very bike friendly area, half the time I feel like I'm risking me life when I'm out there.

I have, however, gotten into an almost meditative zone lap swimming in an Olympic pool when I was training for a tri. Boy was that nice. My brain was nice and empty, the feel of the water flowing over me was so soothing, the muffled sounds really helped -- really lovely. I wish I had a lap pool at my house, I'd swim alot if I did.

Hello Mrs Snark.
My experiences of riding in the zone came after about 7 years of riding, and a little help from reading Sri Chimnoy's articles of spirituality and sport.
It takes a lot of riding to get to a point where one feels little doubt about how to ride their bike in all circumstances.

When i started to swim, I was too tense to stay afloat (so to speak). I had to learn how to relax. However, whenever swam about 17-18 laps of the Olympic pool, I started to doze off. My head would not turn enough to breath, and I would start feeling water entering my mouth, which quickly woke me up again.

I found a way to do long swims without going anywhere. I would us a soft rubber hose around my feet. It tied to a rope and anchored to a fence post. I would swim for about half an hour before I started to feel a bit of rubbing on my ankles - then I stopped.

When I lived inland, I would swim on a bend in the river. I would find a spot where the water flow equaled my swimming speed. The further out of the bend, the faster the water flowed.

[2heavy]

Originally Posted by nonameslob

I think I experienced this on my first "long" ride (10 miles, I'm not much of a cyclist!) I was going faster than I'd ever gone and it just felt like I could go on forever! Everything else was just flying by and all I could see was straight ahead, everything else was a blur. It was pretty cool. I would love to get that feeling again.

Hello nonameslob.

Sounds very exciting. It reminds me of my early days as a cyclist. I got caught up with a bunch of cyclists who were passing me. I pushed harder to stay with them. Soon I was on a high, travelling faster than I ever had. Got caught up in the slipstream. I never wanted it to stop. After that ride, all I wanted to do was to race my bike with others.

It was a long time after, I came across another experience that was very different for me. It was less exciting, yet all enjoyable. Nothing was a blur, but all clear awareness. But then again, everybody experiences 'the zone' differently, yet many people do share some similarities.