Attention and peace
The skill of motorcycling gets elevated to an art when decisions and action precede their cause. In stark contrast to being a reaction as is normally the case. Of course riding is far from crystal-ball gazing but then again thats what safe motorcycling is actually all about in essence. To the uninitiated or in actuality, the inattentive, seeing an experienced rider predict that truckers sudden U-turn through the gap in the road-divider ahead with unerring accuracy and take evasive action even before the trucker began turning that wheel is dramatic and explosively impressive, the latter especially if the spectator happens to be riding pillion with him. And yet what the experienced or now the expert rider has done is nothing out of the ordinary. He was just a couple of levels ahead of the hero-worshipping amateur riding his pillion seat. Theres no myopia in his vision of the world around him. Thats all. Though thats exactly what the big deal is about.
Imagine riding down a typical urban thoroughfare through moderately dense traffic composed of a variety of slow and fast traffic elements. Our typical rider scans vehicles close by, scrutinizes their behavior and makes tolerable predictions about a possible safe path through them. Yet despite the attention, analysis, prediction and action, he gets caught by surprise more often than not. Why? The process of evaluation is technically correct and yet the predictions go awry just enough to convert a safe passing maneuver into a close call. How?
Ol dame time is at work here. The decisions and predictions are correct but the sample size for analysis is too small and spread over too short a time period to be really reliable. Traffic is like flowing water, diverging around obstacles and getting affected by what occurs even 15-20 car lengths ahead. Reduce the road width keeping the same traffic volume and you are bound to incur a speed debt everyone slows down and this slowing down ripples upstream quicker and stronger than is usually expected. Primarily because of differing performance capabilities mixed together in traffic differing performance both of the vehicles and their drivers. A bus at 40 kph in 4th gear will slow down pretty quickly when the driver just releases the accelerator pedal while a sedan in 5th experiences no engine braking and keeps rolling till the driver actually applies the brakes and you see the brake lights light up. A slow scooterist ahead gets on the brakes at the first sign of vehicles slowing down a bit and sends down a ripple effect upstream into traffic behind him. Different performance is the rule and not the exception. And so the 2 car-length 10 vehicle 4 second scan for analysis, prediction and action is outdated in a mere 2 seconds of it being made in the ever changing dynamics of moving traffic. The decisions taken even a second ago are obsolete even before the rider is past his sample!
Motorcycles allow for two major advantages in traffic maneuverability and a high eye position. Check that you sit higher than most of the hatch-backs and sedans dotting the road. It is only the SUVs and heavy vehicles that allow the driver a higher vantage point. Use this high sight-line and the superior maneuverability of your steed to always place yourself in moving traffic in a position that gives you the maximum space and vision around and ahead of you. Attend to as large a sample of traffic ahead and around as you can assimilate. And if a large enough sample is getting too hard to absorb, it only means you are going faster than your skills and analysis capability allow you to. Or that you are not paying enough attention. Remember knowing what to do in a crisis is not as important as recognizing when a real crisis is building up. And though having practiced hard on panic reaction skills, the real competence lies in predicting and avoiding the need to put them to work at all.
A first couple of car lengths ahead are the first level of attention. Develop the habit of looking far and deep into traffic, turns, road texture, medians and whatever else has the potential of becoming an obstacle in your path. Several levels ahead. When on the move, time contains both distance and speed. Gain time and you gain choices in both. Distance at hand or speed in check proportionately reduces severity of evasive maneuvering needed. Looking far means you perceive a larger chunk of traffic over a longer period, have enough time to watch the dynamics change and make a prediction based on this dynamic and changing model of traffic rather than an almost static image of things happening in your immediate vicinity. Keep that head up literally or you wont see far ahead enough. Carry forward this principle to your health, your career, your relationships, to your entire life and see those skills elevate to artistry to total control to peace of mind.
This article was published in the Feb-Mar 2012 issue of the xBhp Magazine
The skill of motorcycling gets elevated to an art when decisions and action precede their cause. In stark contrast to being a reaction as is normally the case. Of course riding is far from crystal-ball gazing but then again thats what safe motorcycling is actually all about in essence. To the uninitiated or in actuality, the inattentive, seeing an experienced rider predict that truckers sudden U-turn through the gap in the road-divider ahead with unerring accuracy and take evasive action even before the trucker began turning that wheel is dramatic and explosively impressive, the latter especially if the spectator happens to be riding pillion with him. And yet what the experienced or now the expert rider has done is nothing out of the ordinary. He was just a couple of levels ahead of the hero-worshipping amateur riding his pillion seat. Theres no myopia in his vision of the world around him. Thats all. Though thats exactly what the big deal is about.
Imagine riding down a typical urban thoroughfare through moderately dense traffic composed of a variety of slow and fast traffic elements. Our typical rider scans vehicles close by, scrutinizes their behavior and makes tolerable predictions about a possible safe path through them. Yet despite the attention, analysis, prediction and action, he gets caught by surprise more often than not. Why? The process of evaluation is technically correct and yet the predictions go awry just enough to convert a safe passing maneuver into a close call. How?
Ol dame time is at work here. The decisions and predictions are correct but the sample size for analysis is too small and spread over too short a time period to be really reliable. Traffic is like flowing water, diverging around obstacles and getting affected by what occurs even 15-20 car lengths ahead. Reduce the road width keeping the same traffic volume and you are bound to incur a speed debt everyone slows down and this slowing down ripples upstream quicker and stronger than is usually expected. Primarily because of differing performance capabilities mixed together in traffic differing performance both of the vehicles and their drivers. A bus at 40 kph in 4th gear will slow down pretty quickly when the driver just releases the accelerator pedal while a sedan in 5th experiences no engine braking and keeps rolling till the driver actually applies the brakes and you see the brake lights light up. A slow scooterist ahead gets on the brakes at the first sign of vehicles slowing down a bit and sends down a ripple effect upstream into traffic behind him. Different performance is the rule and not the exception. And so the 2 car-length 10 vehicle 4 second scan for analysis, prediction and action is outdated in a mere 2 seconds of it being made in the ever changing dynamics of moving traffic. The decisions taken even a second ago are obsolete even before the rider is past his sample!
Motorcycles allow for two major advantages in traffic maneuverability and a high eye position. Check that you sit higher than most of the hatch-backs and sedans dotting the road. It is only the SUVs and heavy vehicles that allow the driver a higher vantage point. Use this high sight-line and the superior maneuverability of your steed to always place yourself in moving traffic in a position that gives you the maximum space and vision around and ahead of you. Attend to as large a sample of traffic ahead and around as you can assimilate. And if a large enough sample is getting too hard to absorb, it only means you are going faster than your skills and analysis capability allow you to. Or that you are not paying enough attention. Remember knowing what to do in a crisis is not as important as recognizing when a real crisis is building up. And though having practiced hard on panic reaction skills, the real competence lies in predicting and avoiding the need to put them to work at all.
A first couple of car lengths ahead are the first level of attention. Develop the habit of looking far and deep into traffic, turns, road texture, medians and whatever else has the potential of becoming an obstacle in your path. Several levels ahead. When on the move, time contains both distance and speed. Gain time and you gain choices in both. Distance at hand or speed in check proportionately reduces severity of evasive maneuvering needed. Looking far means you perceive a larger chunk of traffic over a longer period, have enough time to watch the dynamics change and make a prediction based on this dynamic and changing model of traffic rather than an almost static image of things happening in your immediate vicinity. Keep that head up literally or you wont see far ahead enough. Carry forward this principle to your health, your career, your relationships, to your entire life and see those skills elevate to artistry to total control to peace of mind.
This article was published in the Feb-Mar 2012 issue of the xBhp Magazine