Trevor gave me one tip (there may have been more, but this is the one I have held onto):
Keep your eyes as far ahead as you can.
I was surprised both by how hard it was and how much it helped. I kept slipping back into staring at the trail right in front of my tire. When there's a rock in the middle of the path, it screams for your full attention and you stare at it until you've successfully navigated around it. But as you get good at keeping your eyes ahead, your mind and muscles learn to navigate around the items you have logged mentally without requiring you to stare at them.
I wouldn't say I'm very good at it yet, but even with just a couple of trips up there, I can see this skill beginning to develop. And it's a really cool feeling to see a rock or a tree, log it in your mind, and move on, and discover your body really is able to handle it without giving that one obstacle your full attention.
I also noticed that as I get tired, my eyes start to come closer in, until they are staring at the trail in front of my front tire - even when I'm not mountain biking. On my commute home, I find myself staring at the trail instead of looking ahead or enjoying the scenery. I have to tell myself - "Come on, John. This is no way to enjoy a bike ride! Look up. Look around. Soak it in. Enjoy!!"
I think we can learn to do this in life too. We give obstacles too much of our attention. We stare at them until we have successfully overcome them. And we miss a lot of life when we do this. We need to remind ourselves to keep our head up, looking ahead as far as we can. Because when we do that, we discover that we handle those obstacles just fine. We didn't need to be staring at them after all.
It's really hard to enjoy life when your staring at the ground. Look up! Look around! Soak it in! Enjoy!
Thanks for the tip, Trevor!
