Two hundred miles. Gas, pee, go. A day of long distance riding is intensely personal because of the constancy of what I will call its immersive isolation. Being in the flow of the river of traffic, yet being careful to avoid the eddies and the backwaters draws a mental energy that becomes attuned to the hum of the road roar around you. Different sizes and shapes of tires make distinctive sounds that tell and sometimes warn of a ripple in the river.
Engines whisper at the speed of the flow, but they too offer hints of currents in the river.
The wind itself is a signal of disturbances in the flow. Riding in the zone is being in a mental state of distractional non-concentration. It is a complacency to the normal flow of the river around you, without concentrating on the distractions in the river. Yet it is the distractions which almost subliminally attract the necessary attention of analysis and avoidance. The zone is very peaceful.