Learning to relax | GTAMotorcycle.com

Learning to relax

ToSlow

ToSlow

Well-known member
Site Supporter
Forum Sponsor
I've taken a few solo trips now. One thing i find myself doing is getting in a hurry.

How are some of the ways people that ride alone or in a group learn to relax and not worry about the destination?
 
It just takes time.

When we used to work, all of our trips used to be on a timeline. When we were finally on our no-deadline, no-schedule trip, we found we initially approached it like all our others - rushing as if we had somewhere we needed to be on Monday morning.

It took quite a bit of time before the realization sunk in that we didn't have to rush. One nice thing is that once you adopt this new attitude, it doesn't leave you. Rather you find yourself getting a bit ****** off that others are in such a hurry so you end up not riding with them and doing things at your own pace, or finding others who ride at your relaxed pace.
 
One thing you could try to do on your next ride is, play a game of "Where does this road go?" and "How do I get to that thing?"

Anything that remotely looks interesting, take that road that you've always by-passed. If something looks a bit interesting in the distance, try to find a road (or trail if you're into that) to get to it. If there's a good picture opportunity, stop and take a shot.

Basically, anything that you've ever said to yourself before, "Nah, not enough time", then consciously make the effort this time around to make the time.

It may not lead to anything, the road you end up taking might suck, the picture you take might not be very good, but at least it conditions yourself to relax on the road.
 
Lightcycle said:
One thing you could try to do on your next ride is, play a game of "Where does this road go?"

Anything that remotely looks interesting, take that road that you've always by-passed. If something looks a bit interesting in the distance, try to find a road (or trail if you're into that) to get to it. If there's a good picture opportunity, stop and take a shot.

Basically, anything that you've ever said to yourself, "Nah, not enough time", then consciously make the effort this time around to make the time.
Click to expand...
I've seen lots of places but never take the time to explore them. i know that i'm missing out on lots of things to see and do. riding past things that look interesting but not stopping to check them out. Then feeling short changed cause of not stopping.
 
ToSlow said:
I've seen lots of places but never take the time to explore them. i know that i'm missing out on lots of things to see and do. riding past things that look interesting but not stopping to check them out. Then feeling short changed cause of not stopping.
Click to expand...

This probably happens when you live in a place for a long time and you get used to riding established routes.

I'm fairly new to the area where we currently reside, and for my job, I spend a lot of time exploring new roads so I can take my students riding on them. So often after a ride, my students will tell me, "I've lived here my entire life, I've never been on this road before!"
 
ToSlow said:
I've seen lots of places but never take the time to explore them. i know that i'm missing out on lots of things to see and do. riding past things that look interesting but not stopping to check them out. Then feeling short changed cause of not stopping.
Click to expand...
Then as Gene says, stop:)

I rush around a fair bit too when I’m travelling, because it’s often about riding as many good roads as possible. It’s often cramming more than I need to when planning a trip, because I’m competitive in my nature and it’s competing against myself to ride more, ride longer, faster twister etc.. So when I see something I want to stop at, I have to consciously recognize that I don’t need to compete against myself and stop. Often times on my solo trips I’ll just allow myself to forego the destination I originally had and just let the day come and take longer breaks, more breaks, or just park the bike and not ride. I just need to do that more often.

In 2022 I’m going to have so much time off due to not taking any vacations in quite a while. I’m really looking forward to applying this less is more approach on these coming road trips! And getting back to moto-camping, because for me those are the best trips for really slowing it down.
 
Often my destination goes right out the window , I end up seeing other things and sometimes I see nothing at all . And I will sometimes change the plan and take a day off and visit a tour trip down a copper mine , or up a mountain in a gondola or as a passenger on a ferry , just because. I can’t ride with people that want to put on maximum miles and talk over coffee about how many kms they got in . Cool if that’s what they need , it’s not what my vacation time needs


Sent from my iPhone using GTAMotorcycle.com
 
I ride a slow bike it doesn't really allow me to go all that fast... :ROFLMAO:

For day trips I just have a rough idea of where I want to go. I check google maps just before I leave the house. Then once I am out there see where the bike takes me, or if I discover something interesting go to it. Stop and smell the roses. If I don't make it to where I thought I might end up, no biggie just out enjoying the ride, which is mostly backroads and avoiding main highways or busy places. I don't have a radio in the bike and I don't listen to music, just watch everything around me.

Now there are times when I do get into a hurry. Mostly when I have gone pretty far and haven't thought about the return, and it's getting dark. Time to speed things up and take more direct routes etc.
 
Ride with others, and let someone else lead the ride who does the "stop and smell the roses" thing, and go with the flow.

That's the only thing that works for me, otherwise my endurance rider mentality kicks in hard and I just ride ride ride until I either need gas, or need a bathroom. For me, there's an appeal in this (I know not all understand it, but it's a thing for some of us), although I do recognize that sometimes I miss seeing things as a result. That being said, I'm not a big scenery gawker (I can take in scenery as I ride and enjoy it just as much really), although I am an *experience* guy - if there's something cool to stop and experience (I'll use the Diefenbunker outside Ottawa as an example) I find that very cool stuff, but if I'm solo I'd be more apt to ride past vs stopping...but I've been there twice in group rides now and really enjoyed it.
 
Sometimes you just have to make a conscious decision to slow down and take it easy, but you also have to act on the decision.
I tend to get fixated on final destinations and hence... I rush to get there.
During my last ride to BC I told myself I should stop along the way to at least l@@k at a few Canadian landmarks, some of which I'd driven by in the past, but never stopped at to take in.
First one was the Terry Fox Memorial in Thunder Bay.... I actually pulled off the highway and rode up to the park...
Walked around a bit and checked out the memorial statue.

I think that was it though for that trip... 'Pretty much cannon ball raced it to the Okanagan from there...

Oh well, baby steps. :)
 
Hack said:
First one was the Terry Fox Memorial in Thunder Bay.... I actually pulled off the highway and rode up to the park...
Walked around a bit and checked out the memorial statue.

I think that was it though for that trip... 'Pretty much cannon ball raced it to the Okanagan from there...
Click to expand...

It sounds like you and I would like riding together. :LOL:
 
Isn't your pace/route dictated by the location of the motel (or camp site) where you'll be staying that night? So if you want to ride at a relaxed pace or explore a lot of side roads, you intentionally choose a motel not too far away, say 500 kms. That way if you just ride straight to it you'll arrive way early and then you'll just have to sit there for most of the day being bored, so you're kinda forced to explore more roundabout routes and take your time.
 
danp said:
Isn't your pace/route dictated by the location of the motel (or camp site) where you'll be staying that night? So if you want to ride at a relaxed pace or explore a lot of side roads, you intentionally choose a motel not too far away, say 500 kms.
Click to expand...

To be fair, the ability to do this sort of thing really depends on the distance to the ultimate destination, and/or how long you've got to make the trip.

Someone going to and from the west coast for example, 500km at a time, well... ;)
 
Good thread. My issue is that when I leave I start feeling guilty that I left the kids behind for a ‘selfish’ reason while my wife stayed with them.

So I have a route and I bomb through it. Each time I see a nice spot to pull off but nope….must get home sooner so I start stressing about the ride and speed up to put the miles in. This year I’m going to limit myself to a certain mileage and just keep it slow and low km (unless I join one of @shanekingsley famous rides).

Biggest problem is from Mississauga to any good roads is a trek in itself. So that needs to be accounted for.
 
Chuck the GPS and make decisions at intersections based soley on which direction appears to be more interesting. You should soon be disoriented and less likely to "race" in one direction since you don't know where it goes.
This is a great way find good roads and offbeat sights.
 
PrivatePilot said:
Ride with others, and let someone else lead the ride who does the "stop and smell the roses" thing, and go with the flow.

That's the only thing that works for me, otherwise my endurance rider mentality kicks in hard and I just ride ride ride until I either need gas, or need a bathroom. For me, there's an appeal in this (I know not all understand it, but it's a thing for some of us), although I do recognize that sometimes I miss seeing things as a result. That being said, I'm not a big scenery gawker (I can take in scenery as I ride and enjoy it just as much really), although I am an *experience* guy - if there's something cool to stop and experience (I'll use the Diefenbunker outside Ottawa as an example) I find that very cool stuff, but if I'm solo I'd be more apt to ride past vs stopping...but I've been there twice in group rides now and really enjoyed it.
Click to expand...
Diefenbunker is very cool. We did it on a Sat and Screaming Heads on the Sun. Good times!
 
danp said:
Isn't your pace/route dictated by the location of the motel (or camp site) where you'll be staying that night? So if you want to ride at a relaxed pace or explore a lot of side roads, you intentionally choose a motel not too far away, say 500 kms. That way if you just ride straight to it you'll arrive way early and then you'll just have to sit there for most of the day being bored, so you're kinda forced to explore more roundabout routes and take your time.
Click to expand...
Not knowing where you're going to stay for the night makes all that moot. Even though the Squeeze and I sleep in motels we never know which one until we happen by and find out if they a vacancy. Camping rough with the guys is similar. We don't know if it will take ten minutes or another hour to find a good vagrant spot.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom