The book cover is far from being appealing to me. But the content is. Author Ken Condon maintains that there is a state of being beyond the simple pleasure of rolling down the road. His book was written to help other riders find that state of being. It’s the experience of being physically and mentally present in the moment, where every sense is sharply attuned to the ride. Your mind becomes silent to the chatter of daily life and everyday problems seem to dissolve, you feel a deeper appreciation for life. Your body responds to this state of being with precise, fluid movements, you feel in balance, your muscles are relaxed, and it seems as though every input you make is an expression of mastery.This is “The Zone.” The ability to ride in the Zone goes hand in hand with mastering basic motorcycling skills and achieving mental and emotional control. Ken Condon has identified all the factors that affect entering the Zone and addresses each one individually, from the development of awareness and mental skills to mastering physical control of the motorcycle. At the end of each chapter are drills designed to transform the book’s ideas into solid riding skills. A companion DVD is included to demonstrate each concept and technique. Try them. Riding In The Zone.
When Riding Your Motorcycle Did You Ever Entered The Zone?
Published by January 17th, 2009 in Books and Editorial.23 Responses to “When Riding Your Motorcycle Did You Ever Entered The Zone?”
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For those of us that have ridden all of or lives this would be a useless book. This guy must be appealing to the yuppie sunday riders which have poisoned the biker lifestyle.
DonV
you are my hero
DonV. Entering the zone has nothing to do with how long you rode! Nothing. Dumb remark you made.
I have a different opinion then you Greg,when you are riding your bike you should not be zoning about ANYTHING. It is people zoning that get themselves injured or perhaps killed due to their lack of attention. Perhaps in time will see that too!
DonV just doesn’t understand the meaning.
Your coment clearly shows a poser mantality.
Let me guess. You have a beard too .
Hey Paul Mantality ? What the hell is that?
You must ride a Rice Rocket!
DonV. Maybe you should read this book before you get confused for the rest of your ridetime.
I boned all of your wives while you were reading this book.
Being in the Zone isn’t “zoning out”….it’s like being in the groove as a musician, or knowing something you are crafting is 100% on the mark as you are making it. It’s all about KNOWING what and where your going with the moment and the program you are creating. It heightens your awareness, sharpens your natural AND your practiced skill. You are not oblivious to your surroundings or to the things that can and will end your enjoyment of precession riding.
Anyone thinking they KNOW everything…about riding…knows nothing. This comes from a rider who has over 38 years of experience in the saddle. I know better than to believe I know it all when it comes to riding and improving my skills and intuition as a rider.
ROCK STAR : I`m so sorry to here that ! You better run (not walk) to your Doctor, , my wife has full blown A.I.D.S and gonorrhea ! And what you took as her just being wet, was the sores breaking open.
I have been riding for over 40 years, I take lots of long road trips and am an ex road racer. The “Zone” is the point at witch the bike becomes one with the rider and an extension of the riders body. At that point it does become a bit existential and a state of mind. It is a life altering experience to those that have felt it. It is why those that don’t ride don’t get it and the posers never will.
DonV you said what I was thinking while I read this post. I would love to hear what zone I’m in on the back end of a 900 mile ride in one day. Maybe I should write a book about that “zone”.
Yuppies can only read about this kind of “zone”.
Posers reach that feeling when they have become so good at posing that they actually feel like bikers and those around accept them as bikers as well.
This europhoric point in a posers life is is the apogee of his pose and soon the boredrom will set in and he will become a novice at lawn bowling where he will try to fit in with the “Bowlers”, finding again that he is shunned by his white garbed brethren.
How presumptuous it is to think that there’s nothing more you can learn about any particular skill or topic.
I for one will be happy to check this book out. Thank you, Cyril for bringing it up.
Keep the rubber side down, and of course an open mind! 🙂
DonV has it right
I’ve only been riding for 30+ years. In the beginning I was always “in the zone”
Back then………. Lebanese Blond Hash would truly make you “One with the Highway”
Now I’m so far out of the zone, my only concern is ending my ride in a vertical position.
I wouldn’t call a “heightened sense of awareness being in the “the zone”
Everyone can appreciate a good ride, but “zoning out” is what it is………….
DonV,
You may have missed the point here
Try reading this part again.
“… Zone goes hand in hand with mastering basic motorcycling skills and achieving mental and emotional control… ”
With a “lifetime of riding” under your belt, what do you think about riding while listening to the Radio……???
And -BTW-
Can’t remember ever reading a “useless book” ……
(Hell, even those that fail to make their point are useful).
-nicker-
Remember this:
An “Expert” is simply that:
“Ex” = a has-been
“spert” = a drip under pressure.
This post got me thinking about the few times (in over 40 years of riding) that I can say I was riding in the zone. And the last time was a long time ago.
Being in the zone is hard to describe, You can’t make it happen, and it certainly doesn’t happen every time you get on the bike, but you’ll know when it does and that will become one of your treasured rides.
Perhaps I’ll pick up this book (horrid cover and all) and see what Condon has to say.
This book wasn’t about “zoning out”. It’s about “zoning in.” Being in the moment and not thinking about chicks, work or how pretty you look in your new black leathers or your new shiny bike etc. It’s about being in the moment with no distractions. I ride like that all the time. I usually play games in my head like catching up to cars, making good time keeping a schedule to keep me concentrating on what I am doing. I like to keep RPM and speeds consistent, fast or slow. I know I am getting tired when I start to think about how sore my ass is or what I am going to do when I get home or whether a cop might stop me for going to fast. Just becoming distracted from riding is the cause of most accidents. Like looking around at your friends, waving at girls, going too fast to make the corner, drinking or any other dumb things people do while they drive bikes or cars.
Zone in not out. See you on the road.
Steve
Everytime I straddle and ride off on my old classic Indians I find myself in the zone. On a long trip I’m way off into the zone. There is something mystical about riding and I equate it to good therapy not that I’ve ever been to one. Motorcycles are good therapy and I like the saying “that’s why you never see a motorcycle parked at a therapists office”.
I don’t know if I’m in the zone or not, I just know that I reach a state of presence, of firing on all 8, where it feels like every nerve is open to the wind. It is existential and a bit esoteric but you know it when you feel it and I feel it most times.
Sometimes I liken riding to being teleported or time traveling and no T’s Lebanese Blond Hash isn’t what puts me in that state. That’s for after the ride.
Yes Yes Yes!!!! I love to ZONE “out” !!!!!
In The Zone ,
Traveling across country ,
” You know your in the zone when you fill up , haul ass and notice you have traveled 150 miles without looking at the gas gage ” .
Next thing you realize headed northeast … Sturgis is 100 miles out and the day has seen 8 or 900 miles that started at 5:00 am and its 6:00 Sturgis time . No time to dilly dally , just gas and a piss , then haul ass.
Were havin fun yet ?
Go for a ride and get in the zone .
Stuck in the zone since the early 60’s and love it ,
Ray somewhere usa
Lets see, The zone?
I remember back in 73 criss crossing europe for three months on a Norton commando Interstate.(still have the bike). I would recall that as the friggin tired zone! But it was great! I think the guys that refer to the zone are probably rice rocket pilots seeing how smoothly they can go into a turn at a hundred. And hopefully exit. To me the zone is a crisp fall ride on a 03 Indian Vintage Chief.Cool dense air .Back country roads,no traffic,the optional wisp of cow Country! Stopping for a coffee and BSing with the locals. Simple enjoyment in a complicated world.