Rant with Ryan: In The Zone

"Some of the best advice I ever received as far as riding goes, happened on a BMX track in 1996. I was in the 13-intermediate class, and there was a guy who I admired in my age group named Troy Bradstreet. I have no idea what he's up to these days, but back then he was a 14-expert, who had some pretty sick style! As far as all the people who raced at Sooner Pearl BMX, located in Oklahoma City, OK back then, Troy definitely had the sickest style, and sickest tabletops. Looking back, he kind of
reminds me of Mike Aitken, before Mike Aitken emerged from Roy, Utah, and onto the BMX scene (he was the mike in my mind before there was mike).

The advice Troy gave me that day, had nothing to do with a riding technique, bike set-up, or anything of that nature. It was advice on attitude. You see, the races had been over that day for awhile, and it was just a group of us hitting the biggest double on the track, doing tricks, and just jumping for the wonderful sake of being in the air with a smile on your face. I don't clearly recall the conversation leading up to the advice, but I clearly remember the advice. I think the conversation probably had something to do with, doing a trick over this particular jump and possibly crashing. However, Troy's advice was this:
"Don't focus on whether or not you will crash, or crashing at all; focus on how awesome it's going to feel once you land the trick!"

Looking back at it now, those were some pretty wise words coming from a
14-year old. I've given that advice numerous times, in many different
riding situations over the years, with friends, and now with all of you.
But not only is it just good advice, it also has an underlying
importance of a good attitude while riding. If you're having a shitty
day of riding, it's probably based on your emotions, and if it's based
on negative emotions, chances are it can be traced to negative thoughts.
Learn to recognized negative bullshit thoughts that pop up in your head
while you're riding, and stop focusing on them. Instead of worrying
about crashing, focus on the feeling of landing the trick. Instead of
thinking about how this ramp, or rail, or set of trails could be better,
enjoy it for what it is, and make the most out of it. After all, that's
what all the great riders do in any situation you put them in.

I know people can get pissed off when they are trying to land a trick,
for personal, or video sake, but that has to do with frustration. What
I'm talking about is seeing the cup half-full while you are on your
bike, to make riding even more enjoyable. So many people, even myself,
could their minds with negative thoughts while riding. I myself tend to
always think about tricks I can't do, rather than enjoying the ones I
CAN do. I also have one friend who will rarely travel out of town to
ride different places, because he's worried what other people might
think. He's passing up tons of fun opportunities, just because he's
worried about some other person's opinion of him, while he is riding a
skatepark. How ridiculous is that? I've heard this from tons of other
kids at skateparks too. The reality is, hardly anybody pays attention to
anybody else at a skatepark, unless they shread, or are drunk trying to
drop in on a vert ramp.

Another area this can become helpful is landing tricks for the first time. Studies have been done, that show one of the differences between people who achieve something, and those who don't - is that those who achieve a task BELIEVE that they can. If you don't believe you can do something, you've lost the battle in your head before it can begin. If you believe you can do something, that you have never done before on a bike, your odds of actually doing it have already increased. Use this to
your advantage, just don't be delusional, or try to fool yourself.

Top 5 Attitudes to enhance the experience of riding:

6) Learn to recognize the negative B.S. thoughts that pop up in your
brain while riding. Recognize that they are just thoughts. Proper focus
improves riding

5) Your mind can only be focused on one thought at a time, so when
you're riding, you might as well focus it on something good.

4) Forget about idealistic ways things could be better with your riding
situation, and accept them for what they are.

3) Stop thinking about what other people might be thinking.

2) Be happy to just be on your bike. Being hurt will make you quickly
realize how easy it is to take this for grated.

1) Go ride, if you are actually riding at a challenging level to
yourself, your brain will have no other resources to waste on things
that don't relate to the task at hand. All your focus will be on the
riding, and if all your focus is on riding, then you are in the zone,
and the zone is a damn good place to be.