But then as I gained even more experience I sometimes found myself going from feeling relaxed on the bike to feeling comfortable.  And I got scared again.  Why? Because there is a significant difference between being relaxed and being comfortable.  Relaxed means not being tense, while comfortable means being completely at ease.  But being completely at ease can cause us to operate on autopilot as the mind kicks back and enjoys the scenery.  We get that "I’m on my bike, it’s a beautiful day and nothing can go wrong" feeling.  And we stop being alert and we stop thinking about what we are doing and what is going on around us.  As long as nothing unexpected happens, we are OK.  But when an unexpected hazard suddenly confronts us, being comfortable can be our undoing, delaying not only our reaction to the situation, but even our recognition of the danger.

Comfortable is a feeling we sometimes get when we are so used to doing something, like riding our bikes, that it becomes routine. The problem we have, of course, is that riding a bike is never routine.  Sure, the mechanics of riding, the shifting, braking, turning, and so on, can become routine, but riding is much more than that.  It usually involves more people than just ourselves, as well as road conditions, weather, other vehicles, animals, and even acts of God—all things that we have little or no control over.  Our primary defense against those external factors is our alertness, which allows us to recognize dangers, and then use our skills to avoid or at least mitigate them.

So, what are we saying here?  We don't want to be tense when we ride, but we don't want to be so relaxed that we become comfortable either.  Become tense and our muscles tighten, become fatigued and reaction time is slowed.  Become comfortable and our mental alertness is lost--muscular reaction times can be slowed as well.  Best selling author Richard La Plante hit the nail on the head in his book, Hog Fever, when he described the state of mind needed for riding as "relaxed alertness," a combination of concentration coupled with relaxation.

Stated simply, we need to relax and enjoy the ride, but always maintain an  awareness of our surroundings and riding situation, as well as the inherent risks of biking.  Maybe, every time we head out to ride, we should remind ourselves of the simple advice of Seargeant Phil Esterhaus, the shift sergeant on the hit TV series Hill Street Blues.  On each episode, as he dismissed his police officers to start their patrols, he sent them on their way with these sage words:  "Hey, let’s be careful out there."