Aura Farming(n.) the act of doing something to look cool, impressive, stylish, etc.
What is Aura Farming on the Bike?
To me aura farming is attempting to look stronger/faster than you might actually be. Typically I envision a rider being composed, looking relaxed on the bike regardless of speed. In particular I see a stable core, flat backed aero positions, relaxed expression, and the holy grail, nose breathing, all as signs of a strong rider. Nose breathing in the breakaway may be the ultimate power move.
I would be amiss to not mention Tadej as a rider who embodies the appearance of a composed rider. This may very well be because he is by far the best rider and doesn’t actually have to try that hard??? Other riders who come to mind as having a stylish and poised riding style would be Matteo Jorgenson, Primoz Roglic, and Isaac del Toro. All fantastic riders in their respects, however perhaps not leaps and bounds ahead of everyone as is Tadej. I believe that is a non-trivial point to bring up as it is quite easy to be a supremely relaxed rider when you truly are the best, but if you aren’t the out and out favorite, it is not so easy to maintain such confidence and poise.
Being a Confident and Relaxed Rider
It may not need to be said how fundamental confidence is in the sport of bike racing, but I don’t think it can be overstated. Confidence goes hand in hand with relaxation in bike racing, e.g. being confident leads to being relaxed. Being relaxed saves both mental and physical energy, giving you better performances, which make you more confident. “To those who have much more will be given”. Confidence itself is quite important to performance on the bike. The more surety you hold in yourself that you are the strongest, the deeper you will dig to prove yourself right. Don’t forget that all failure, excluding death, is psychological. If you can convince yourself that you are the best, or alternatively that you are a supremely strong rider, you have already won the race mentally, all you have to do is finish off the race physically.
I couldn’t not talk about aura farming and not include a picture of myself… Above is a picture of me(in the green) being in the lead group of riders in a local road race. In all fairness I am certainly taking the sport perhaps too seriously and maybe racing out of my category. I include this photo not to cement my superior bicycle racing skillz(certainly not the case, Grant on the Ventum has palmares and experience I will not rival), but to analyze my headspace. In my eyes it is clear(almost, Luca in the black coming in a close second) that I am the most comfortable in this breakaway, being the most aero, having a relaxed body position, as well as nose breathing. In this particular moment I had looked at my break mates, identified myself and their strengths and weaknesses and had decided I can win. This confidence is expressed by my appearance, which is then observed by myself and others, which only grows my confidence. Yet again a positive feedback loop that benefits myself. With the mental win over my fellow competitors, I only had to complete my strategy(of which I had growing confidence in) to truly take the win. In the end it was me who won, followed closely by the confident and relaxed Luca, almost as if it was predictable from one photo.
How to be a Confident Rider
Aura farm, could you have guessed the answer? In all seriousness, I am convinced that aura farming is a good way to gain crucial confidence in yourself. Traditionally confidence is gained from previous strong performances. I am purposing you can build it faster. To be transparent I am purposing that you “fake it until you make it”, certainly not a revolutionary idea or one that I made up. I do believe in the ability for one to manifest one’s goals in a self-fulfilling prophecy if you act as though you already completed your goal. In other words, if you act like a winner, following a winner’s habits and actions, you can eventually rise to that level.
So how to aura farm on the bike? Act like you know what you are doing? Act skillful, harness your inner coolness, cultivate your pride? Pretty much… It takes a bit of practice to aura farm on your competitors and harness their confidence, but it can eventually be done. I’m not to sure how else to explain this process other than be vain and prideful about how you carry yourself in the peloton. Being more aero than your competitors, having a swaggier bike/outfit, even nose breathing? All fair game in my book if you can win a mental edge.
Take the photo above for example. This is me following Cam Jones, a rider exponentially stronger than myself, up a short climb. This was one of the hardest efforts I’ve made this season, and I truly think it was due to my confidence I had in myself at the time. I had done the work I needed too, had the prior experience, and a little aura farming in the peloton(flexing my ease of positioning, as well as fueling with bananas) truly built the confidence I needed to follow such a strong rider.
In sum, go practice aura farming on your fellow ride friends and feel the confidence flood in.