Strange feeling on the bike today...

bristolpete

Hi all,

Had a weird one today.

I have done 195 miles over three rides this week. Today, about 40 miles into a 65 miler I felt like my bike was getting smaller. Really, really weird. It was like 'Honey i've shrunk the bike'. Its really hard to put into words.

I wondered if I bonked, but had eaten fuel and drank well again.

Just a weird one. Anyone get random effects on a bike. Once at 85 miles out, I thought my handle bars had worked loose, so much so that I had to stop the bike and check...!

Then went to the vets to pay for cat to have leg sorted and cost £170 - nearly bonked right there.....

crumbschief

Yes i know what you mean,after a distance especially when alone a trance like state can happen i have found,distraction helps,or maybe it's just the increase in energy from the Hadron Collider.I agree on the vet bills they are so expensive,i tend to get the things i can online now.

Sam Kennedy

I normally end up in a trance like state when I'm out with the club. Since I am just following the person in front, without having to pay attention to the route, my brain just sort of switches into autopilot mode. It feels more like I'm watching myself cycling, it's weird. Once I split off with the fast group reality comes back quickly though!

Another weird thing I've realised is sometimes when I close my eyes on the turbo trainer, I feel like I'm going backwards.

stokepa31

Can I ask what brand of jelly babies you guys are on cos I think I want some

Ollieda

Were you going up hill? After stopping halfway up a hill and having a little break I've climbed back on the bike and felt like it's shrunk and I'm almost face to face with tarmac.......took a while to convince myself I wasn't going crazy and just carry on cycling!

Radioactiveman

I have a solution to vets bills

Whenever its ill throw it away and get a new one,much cheaper that way

DaSy

I get exactly that if I remove my sunglasses on a ride!

If I stop and put my shades on my head, then forget to put them back on as I start off, I feel like I'm riding a kids bike, it's really weird.

I don't wear normal specs and have had my vision checked regularly, and never get it any other time. This has happened with various shades, so it's not the glasses (including Adidas, Rudy Project and Oakley).

bristolpete

DaSy wrote:

I get exactly that if I remove my sunglasses on a ride!

If I stop and put my shades on my head, then forget to put them back on as I start off, I feel like I'm riding a kids bike, it's really weird.

I don't wear normal specs and have had my vision checked regularly, and never get it any other time. This has happened with various shades, so it's not the glasses (including Adidas, Rudy Project and Oakley).

Thats it exactly and the funny thing I was taking my shades on and off for hills. Maybe there is a link.

Very odd but glad I am not alone!

Splottboy

Had something weird happen in Fuerteventura.
You know in the movies, where they sort of zoom in and the background goes like towards you...( It's hard to explain, but I'm sure we've all seen it done )...Well that happened to come coming up a a hill and seeing Lobo Island in the distance.

It was like it was coming closer, all by itself. Well spooky...

DaSy

bristolpete wrote:

Thats it exactly and the funny thing I was taking my shades on and off for hills. Maybe there is a link.

Very odd but glad I am not alone!

I have come up with a theory about it, and that is that I have done so many miles on the bike, and always with my shades on, so my brain has this pre-programmed perception of what my bike looks like through them.

I wonder if maybe the introduction of UV (as that is the only thing that all my glasses have in common, they cut out UV) in some way alters the way the picture looks in comparison to the pre-programmed one, and maybe causes a kind of parallax error.

It's a theory, probably desperately flawed, but at least it's something, and better than the "you are mental" theory that my wife has come up with!

crumbschief

My view on the weird small bike effects etc are often to do with the eyes and body adjusting,i have noticed this more so during exertion while cycling,shades off and on is the light and dark and looking at objects is the focus on distance,both can seem exaggerated,it can play tricks on you while exercising i have found even more so if low on energy,sugar,water,i doubt there are any medical problems,but if you are worried it's easy to go for an eye test or the Doc's for peace of mind.

bexley5200

sometimes i take my shades off and the bike seams smaller

iain_j

I've had that a few times, sometimes it's just my hands that feel massive, and never had it connected with putting shades on or off. I usually get an "effortless" feeling with it too, like I can't feel the effort I'm putting in, and my legs are turning by their own free will - I've got no say in the matter. Had it climbing a hill once, the climb was about a mile long and all the way up I had the spooky feeling that I wasn't in control of my legs - I wasn't struggling, but it felt like at any second the "magic spell" could break and I'd bonk massively :shock:

bristolpete

Cheers all / a very strange one then but seems linked to the bike riding.

Brommers76

Same here, take shades off and it is as if everything is closer to you. Shades seem to detatch you from the environment, I suppose you don't feel the wind in your face/eyes and the colours unatural. Weird indeed.

smithy1.0

Interesting. I would try and keep off the LSD supplements, too much is never a good thing

ut_och_cykla

Running without my glasses makes me feel stupidly tall!
And removing cycling galsses used to do something similar - but now I use Rudy project with a insert - no problems!
But I have had a 'falling asleep at the handlebars' session , one very hot sultry day on a boring bike path in Germany after a night of listening to Germans celebrating Ascension Day through the walls of my tent - very very strange feeling - didnt fall off thouogh!