GelStra Posted August 20, 2006 Share Posted August 20, 2006 All the things your body is doing when you ride? The subtle weight shifts, the coordinated (except in my case) movements of hands, feet, eyes, etc. We do it all so smoothly, flying along at many feet/sec., balancing this mass of gizmos. Sometimes it just amazes me. Like right now....OK, my mind has nothing else to do. It's Sunday, I'm at work, and this town don't roll outta bed 'til MUCH later...sigh. (Where's my coffee?) mutter, mutter, mumble Link to comment
Joe Frickin' Friday Posted August 20, 2006 Share Posted August 20, 2006 All the things your body is doing when you ride? Think about the astonishing amount of data processing going on in your brain. We can barely get a computer to drive down the road at a crawling pace without screwing up, and here we are, doing it at anywhere from 30-130 MPH, processing huge amounts of visual data, listening to the engine, feeling the brake lever feedback, sensing the accel/decel, the lean angle, with all of that stuff factoring into the second-by-second decisions about what to do next: lean, brake (front or rear), throttle, steer, tuck, hang-off. It's an amazing machine each of us gets to work with...and I'm not talking about the bike. Link to comment
bmwscoot Posted August 20, 2006 Share Posted August 20, 2006 It's an amazing machine each of us gets to work with...and I'm not talking about the bike. I think I need a faster processor...and I'm NOT talking about the bike! Wait...if Barb's riding pillion w/ the intercom hooked up, would that be considered dual-core processors? Link to comment
Whip Posted August 20, 2006 Share Posted August 20, 2006 Paul You must really be bored...your thinkin about thinkin...and tryin to get me to think about thinkin....no fair Whip Link to comment
jackflash Posted August 21, 2006 Share Posted August 21, 2006 All the things your body is doing when you ride? The subtle weight shifts, the coordinated (except in my case) movements of hands, feet, eyes, etc. We do it all so smoothly, flying along at many feet/sec., balancing this mass of gizmos. Sometimes it just amazes me. Like right now....OK, my mind has nothing else to do. It's Sunday, I'm at work, and this town don't roll outta bed 'til MUCH later...sigh. (Where's my coffee?) mutter, mutter, mumble I think about it after I ride. I ride about 70% very hard in the mountain twisties and after a day of that....I'm pretty much used up...until the next morning... Link to comment
GelStra Posted August 21, 2006 Author Share Posted August 21, 2006 You must really be bored Huh? What? Time to go home? Huh? Link to comment
Lawman Posted August 21, 2006 Share Posted August 21, 2006 I 'm still amazed that when the road turns right the bike goes right even though I'm pushing the other way..It all works perfectly well until I start thinking about it.. Link to comment
russell_bynum Posted August 21, 2006 Share Posted August 21, 2006 Think about the astonishing amount of data processing going on in your brain. We can barely get a computer to drive down the road at a crawling pace without screwing up, and here we are, doing it at anywhere from 30-130 MPH, processing huge amounts of visual data, listening to the engine, feeling the brake lever feedback, sensing the accel/decel, the lean angle, with all of that stuff factoring into the second-by-second decisions about what to do next: lean, brake (front or rear), throttle, steer, tuck, hang-off. Yeah, no kidding. I get out there and run around the track at my speed and I'm feeling all of this stuff going on...traction at both ends, suspension feedback at both ends, bar pressure, thrust from the rear, pitch and yaw under braking, etc. It's almost overwhelming. And I'm incredibly slow compared to even the guys at the back of the back in an AMA race. And they're incredibly slow compared to the guys at the front of the pack. Nevermind guys like Rossi. So here's the $30,000,000 question...What's Rossi got that you and I don't? Is he processing all of that information better/faster than we can, does he have an instinctual sense for what information he can ignore and what he needs to process, or is he riding at some higher level that we can't even comprehend. (I'll stop now before I go all "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" on you. ) Link to comment
Firefight911 Posted August 21, 2006 Share Posted August 21, 2006 So here's the $30,000,000 question...What's Rossi got that you and I don't? Is he processing all of that information better/faster than we can, does he have an instinctual sense for what information he can ignore and what he needs to process, or is he riding at some higher level that we can't even comprehend. (I'll stop now before I go all "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" on you. ) What's he got? He's "got" it because he had it. Huh, what? It is a part of him. He grew up with a knee puck and a helmet. Most, although not all, riders of this caliber have spent their every waking moment doing what it takes to be the best at "(fill in the blank)." Tiger Woods, for example. If he wasn't sucking his thumb, he was practicing golf. He was thinking golf. He was golf. That is the learned part, but I firmly believe that there is a "gift", if you will, that some people possess. If there wasn't, anyone could do it if they just applied themselves. I lived, breathed, and ate racing for quite a few years but I knew at the end that I would never be Wayne Rainey, Wayne Gardner, Eddie Lawson, Kevin Schwantz, or Mick Doohan no matter how much money or time I invested. That being said, I believe that there is an instictive nature about that top .01 percent of riders we are wowed by every week during race season. I think it is comprehendable, as I recall spending a lot of time, one on one, with John Kocinski, Wayne Rainey, Kenny Roberts Sr., Randy Mamola, and Doug Chandler at a Hare Scrambles event and talking with them on picking apart a section of track to understand what was going on. I understood, from having done it myself, how much discussion could be had over a mere 20 feet of a turn. I got it. The difference; they could do more with that information. Their minds, senses, and bodies had a capacity well beyond mine to not only understand what was taking place but to do something with it, BEFORE something else happened. To hear a racer of this claiber explain a small segment of one turn is amazing. The detail, the nuances conveyed, the understanding of action and reaction. Wow! I am still awed at that ability to do something so amazing with information that you or I could process and understand, yet the product of their application is so much greater. Do I get the $30,000,000? Probably not because I don't really know if there is an absolute answer. It takes and extraordinary set of parents to develop an extraordinary individual to do extraordinary things, all given extraordinary circumstance that brings it all together. No one thing by itself is enough. It takes all of it, I believe. Oh, and BTW, I think we are all extraordinary at something. Unfortunately, it won't be the podium of a GP race! Link to comment
Couchrocket Posted August 21, 2006 Share Posted August 21, 2006 What's Rossi got that you and I don't? Ever notice how he has to tug at his leathers before he rides off to the starting grid? That may be part of the answer! Link to comment
Carnadero Posted August 21, 2006 Share Posted August 21, 2006 We can barely get a computer to drive down the road at a crawling pace without screwing up,.. They're workin' on it. In 2004, nobody won DARPA's Grand Challenge, but in 2005, five made it to the finish line. That's a hell of an improvement. Link to comment
GelStra Posted August 21, 2006 Author Share Posted August 21, 2006 What's Rossi got that you and I don't? Obviously no expert but a decent listener, I noticed a commonality in bike racing interviews: I was watching a Discovery Channel show(Science, I believe) about motorcycle racing. It was a few years ago because Nicky wasn't in GP yet. But, along with him, they were interviewing Matt Mladin and he commented on seeing things as if time were slowed down. Able to take in more info at a faster rate to be able to work with that info. Nicky talked about working to get his heart rate elevated, I believe to help with the same concept. They all commented that if you were to THINK about what to do, you'd be so far behind the curve of what's happening. In "The Dr., the Kid, & the Tornado", Nicky (as I recall) talks about thinking what's for dinner, etc. Russell, you talk a great deal in track day reports about "seeing" being right up there with the physical stuff. So perhaps it is the repetition of training so that it become instinctual and that ability to process info so much faster so that it's like slo-mo. Who knows? All I can do is sit back and admire the gift. Link to comment
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