Driving Home from the Ride

I am not a "car guy." I drive a five-year-old Subaru wagon with paint flaking off the rear quarter panels. There is no 1970 BMW 2002 hiding under a tarpaulin in my garage. Most of the time I'm a competent driver. Maybe I'm even an above average driver. Sometimes - when I have to drive in Boston, for example - I'm an assertive driver. But the act of driving a car is just not something that I think about a lot, or put energy into.


I have noticed something about myself many times now, though, on my way home from a ride. I've noticed it so often and so consistently that I'm convinced it's a real phenomenon. What I've noticed - especially after a ride when I've ridden well, and am not totally wrecked - is that my driving skills are WAY better than they normally are. Things seem to happen much more slowly. My reaction time is much faster and I see better. I drive faster than normal, but it seems like I have more control, not less. I believe I actually am in better control. (No, I do not drink after my rides. At least, not until I've gotten home, had the ritual glass of chocolate milk, and taken a shower.) In particular, my peripheral vision seems to be about double its normal width.

I draw the conclusion that the level of concentration and reactivity demanded of me when I'm riding singletrack at speed is way beyond anything I otherwise encounter in daily life. After I've been doing it for two hours, that level becomes a habit. When I get behind the wheel afterwards, the demands of driving are trivial by comparison.