by Stan Purdum
“Be careful!” is usually the last thing my wife says to me as I head out for a bike ride, and she says it emphatically.
She often precedes that injunction with others, such as “Have a good ride,” or “Enjoy yourself,” but in the “Be careful,” I hear what’s unsaid: “I love you,” “I don’t want you to be hurt,” or even “I don’t want to lose you.” So I appreciate and welcome the encouragement to exercise care.
Of course, even without her urging, I want to avoid injury or crash when I ride, so perhaps I don’t actually need the extra warning. But such comments are part of the small talk of daily life that helps cement us together.
I’m also aware of how well my wife knows me, and thus, her “Be careful” could be translated as “Keep your mind on what you’re doing.” More than one of my bicycle-related injuries resulted from my failure to pay attention to the right things. Case in point: My most injurious crash occurred when I was fiddling with my odometer instead of watching where my bike was headed. I looked down for only a couple of seconds, but the result of the ensuing crash was a collarbone broken in three pieces that required surgery to repair. I still have the plates and screws in place. I was visiting a friend several states away from home when the crash occurred, and my wife had to fly in to drive me home.
Stage 7 of this year’s Tour de France offered an example of the danger of not keeping one’s mind on what one is doing while cycling. American rider Tejay van Garderen had to abandon the tour after falling heavily on his face and hand from a run-in with road sign on a traffic island during that stage. He later attributed the crash to “personal error” and said, “I was looking down at my bike because I saw something caught up in it, like a piece of paper, so I was looking down, and I hit a median. I have no one to blame but myself ….”
The problem is, we can’t really multitask. Jim Taylor, Ph.D., who teaches at the University of San Francisco and specializes in the psychology of sports, says that multitasking “is a myth that has been promulgated by the ‘technological-industrial complex’ to make overly scheduled and stressed-out people feel productive and efficient.”
Taylor goes on to say that multitasking is “only possible if two conditions are met: 1) at least one of the tasks is so well learned as to be automatic, meaning no focus or thought is necessary to engage in the task (e.g., walking or eating) and 2) they involve different types of brain processing. For example, you can read effectively while listening to classical music because reading comprehension and processing instrumental music engage different parts of the brain. However, your ability to retain information while reading and listening to music with lyrics declines significantly because both tasks activate the language center of the brain.” (See Taylor’s article on this subject here.)
We might think that riding a bike fits that “automatic” condition, but it does so only to a point. On the road, the threats to our well-being are ever changing and so we need to stay engaged as we pedal. Allowing our attention to wander increases the risk.
As I write that, I recall how often while riding I have solved problems related to my life in general, decided new courses of action and even pondered article ideas for RBR, all without crashing. But I also know that I have sometimes “come to” and realized that I don’t remember riding the last couple of miles, and occasionally I have discovered that I wasn’t sure which road I was on at that moment.
I welcome your thoughts about how you stay focused while riding. Feel free to add them to comments section below.
And when you head out for your next ride, be careful!
For me, being careful on a road ride is staying focused on up & back traffic. Call it defensive riding. Being a lifelong roadie, it has become second nature to ride with a mirror & anticipate a double passing by two vehicles, but my mind still wanders since I mostly ride solo on a recumbent with no one else calling out traffic.
Since my recent retirement, I have grown to enjoy riding our local 40 mile rail trail to avoid busier week day traffic and allow my mind to wander. I choose the hills and curves of our great local country roads during early morning weekends.
I’m a 18 year hit & run survivor. For me, being careful is also reducing risk.
Good article, good advice!
Twice I’ve fallen due to not paying attention:
1st- riding up a 10% hill, fiddling with my computer to be able to watch heart rate, began weaving around and fell.
2nd- recently moved to rural area, looking at a huge field with hundreds of beautiful beige-colored cows spread out over hundreds of acres; wondering if I should take a photo and slowed so much that I fell off my bike, rolled down a grassy embankment. Had to crawl up to the road on my knees! DUMB . . . And I also had a good laugh. Only wish someone had captured it on camera! 😉
Speaking from the perspective of a senior citizen, I ride very defensively. I always just assume that I am invisible to every vehicle and anticipate that they will attempt to kill me. That keeps me pretty alert.
I also ride to the right of the bike lane where the glass and nails are stored. This keeps me extra alert to road conditions and keeps my brain engaged. (It also gives me lots of chances to practice my tube patching skills )
I really enjoy riding my bike and hope to continue for many more years.
Be careful out there.
Totally agree with the problem-solving comments. I have thought through many issues while riding. But I know I wasn’t focusing on the ride as much as I should have while solving those problems. Happens in the car as well. It’s definitely something to be aware of and try to safely manage.
21 years ago this month, a moment’s inattention on a ride cost me a broken hip. It was a hard way to learn a lesson, but it seems to have worked, as I’ve had no major “get-offs” since then! 😉
Before descending a hill not far from home, someone had painted on the road “be carful” instead of “be careful”. That misspelling has stuck, and it’s now what my wife and I say to each other before going out on a ride…”be carful”.
Exactly!
I am a lifelong athlete and have several times caught myself thinking of work while on a bike. When this happens I stop, turn around and get off the bike.
I’m a roadie, I make my self as visible as possible; day glow neon jacket, vest & helmet; socks as well. It has been shown neon socks pumping up & down as you pedal is more visible to motorists. I have a light on back of my seat & one on my front bar & small one on my Camel Back, left side mirror. I live in Western Mass, the motorist are courteous & pull out. Riding safely is situation awareness at all times.
My wife tells me “Don’t do anything stupid!” The hard part is that I do not know stupid until I’m there, as in, “Crap, this is really stupid”
🙂 🙂 🙂
I watch out for cars because they sure aren’t watching out for me. ~0le
Hey, Ole Ohlson! John Ludway here. This year I’m celebrating the 20th anniversary of that little trip up north you encouraged me to take – Alaska for a month. Would be very happy to hear back from you as I’m hoping to ride the Icefield Parkway, N. to S., then out to the coast of Washington, then down 101. Maybe you’re along there somewhere? [email protected]
I like to ride my bike as if I were a pilot. Always aware of the road but aware of my six.
I’m 72 and I’ve been riding since the early 60s. Motorists are not on public roads trying to kill and maim cyclists. The last thing they want is an accident with a cyclist although accidents do happen. Many cyclists are terrified of motor vehicles while riding on public roads those people should find a different pastime because they’re a danger to all of us.
Many motor vehicle/bicycle accidents are caused by cyclists.