It depends on where you are and your habits. I never looked down on city roads until I placed my foot on a grate and realized it wasn't nearly as grippy as I t

It depends on where you are and your habits. I never looked down on city roads until I placed my foot on a grate and realized it wasn't nearly as grippy as I thought =) I haven't been riding in a long time but when on trails (i.e. "in the woods") I wouldn't look down. You saw that ground as you approached it and it's all the same for the most part. Differences in elevation are easy to see with peripheral vision. In the city there's potholes and puddles of unknown depth with who-knows-what buried in their depths, haha. BTW: I'm legally blind in my right eye so all I have on my right is peripheral vision so I may not be the best example. I've probably developed a near-instinctual glance.