ADHD and Tracklocross

One of the quieter frustrations of ADHD is that cognition often runs ahead of the body, narrating, critiquing, anticipating. Tracklocross inverts this hierarchy. Fixed gear riding insists that the body leads and the mind follows. Pedals do not pause to ask permission. Momentum dictates thought.

On loose surfaces, this becomes especially pronounced. Micro-adjustments happen beneath conscious awareness. Ankles soften. Hips float. The rider learns to listen through the soles of their feet. For ADHD individuals, whose sensory processing can be either under- or over-amplified, this kind of proprioceptive saturation can be regulating. The noise becomes signal. The signal becomes rhythm.

There is also something important about effort here. Tracklocross is rarely efficient. It is slow, muscular, often absurdly hard for the speed achieved. This effort acts as a cognitive anchor. It burns off excess mental energy not through exhaustion but through purposeful strain. A climb on a fixed gear through mud is not optimisable. It is endured. Endurance, paradoxically, can be calming.