Quote Originally Posted by Ducatista
They no longer just simply enjoy riding a bike.
Personally I don't agree with this (although I am NOT saying it's not true for everyone).

I'm "obsessive" but I can go along on a rideout/social occassion and just enjoy the riding/scenery without spending every second in deep concentration.

I hope some of the training still "rubs off" as it becomes habit/second nature, but I'm pretty sure I can switch on/off degrees of concentration.
In fact I KNOW I can micro sleep on my bike - and here I'm sure we'd all agree that lack of concentration is a BAD thing.

So I personally don't think that trained riders cannot relax and just enjoy themselves and I'm speaking from real experience.

Of course it’s each to their own, but actually standing back, it may just be one of the things that deters some people from advanced training and joining IAM and RoSPA?
Maybe, but for me it's the complete opposite.
I join the groups to relax and enjoy my riding as well e.g. socials, rides, weekends, foreign trips just as many people do with this club.

So some of us do training and relaxing in the same groups.
We do not watch each other like hawks for mistakes on group rides, it's a social occassion to relax and enjoy the ride.

I can certainly switch off and enjoy myself and the training does become seond nature so much of it happens sub-conciously.
My observation of other obsessives, is that they can switch off the intense concentration they would apply on a test and enjoy themselves too - very much so.

But you could well be right, that pre-conceptions that we are ALWAYS intensely concentrating on best behaviour may be putting people off.

I'm not sure how we can counter incorrect pre-conceptions except to have lots of positive images of people enjoying themselves.

But at the end of the day, if some people want to do it and others don't then you have to accept it.
We are all different and it doesn't float everyone's boat.
Whilst some are evangelical about saving lives others are not interested and we have to accept that.
Thanks Ducatista - very interesting to hear your point of view.