What some ADHDer’s do for fun!
A couple of weeks ago, I met a mountain bike friend of mine for dinner. He knew what I do for a living, and within 20 minutes of us meeting up, he asked, “Can you tell?” I knew what he was talking about: his diagnosed ADHD.
I had some suspicions. Not because of how he talked or anything else, but because we’re both mountain bikers. What does mountain biking have to do with ADHD? Nothing official, but what type of people hurl themselves through a wooded trail, dodging rocks and trees while getting bitten by bugs in 100-degree/high-humidity heat? Many people would think it’s an odd way to have fun. But some may look at it as “dopamine seeking.” This sport has it all for those who seek the dopamine.*
You can endlessly look/scroll for upgrades for your bike and gear. This could include bike racks, apparel, bug repellent options, and endless accessories.
Of course there’s the risk factor. It’s that rush of whooshing by all of the obstacles and improving your skill set to get over other obstacles. Frankly, I don’t think it’s nearly as risky as road biking (bikers never win when it’s car vs biker), but a lot of us walk away just fine after a tree collision. I myself have a metal pin in my pinky and only had to take about 5 days off after the collision and surgery.
A day after hanging out with my friend for dinner, we were on the trail. He took on a downhill trail, like a bird in flight. I lost track of him as he got a quarter mile ahead of me. When the downhill trail ended, he was waiting for me to catch up, with the biggest grin on his face.
It wasn’t his grin that inspired me to start a mountain bike racing team, but just the idea of constant, high-risk stimulation with a big blast of balance-related exercise thrown in. His grin just reminded me why I founded the team.
Speaking of the team, here’s me and my friend Sherman. Everyone on the team knows someone with ADHD, is someone with ADHD, or loves someone with ADHD.
By comparison to the other racers, I can’t say we’re very good, but dammit, we’re having fun.
*I acknowledge that my take on dopamine and its meaning will probably make a neuroscientist slap their own face with my simplification, but I’m OK with that.
For more scientific discussions of dopamine, check out: https://brain.harvard.edu/hbi_news/the-role-of-dopamine-in-impulsivity-risk-seeking-and-exploration/