Beginner's Mind

[Voodoo]

Along the lines of David's post, how open are you to giving yourself feedback on your riding? How ready or open are you to admit that maybe something in your technique is incorrect, even if you've been doing the same thing for 30 years?

 

Is it really possible for you to approach not just the road (i.e. I need to learn that corner better), but your riding (i.e. I need to learn to corner better) with a sense of newness every time? Breaking bad habits is one big hump, the other is admitting that there might be more/ better things to learn about how you specifically are riding. How often do you really think about - AND ADJUST - different parts of your approach to riding, ranging from body position to throttle control, to head position to range of focus?

 

I've found that the hardest part of riding is breaking all the bad habits that I've accumulated over the years - and they are many! In one of his emails about techinique, Keith Code has this line:

 

"For any riding situation, the important inputs into the bike often take a back seat to the ones generated by the rider’s own errors."

 

Have you ever really thought about that and approached your riding for the day with that perspective? I find it truly difficult to do, yet the rewards when I can focus on it are tremendous. Every time I ride the RT, I try and learn something new about how to ride it and how I ride it. Did you ever wonder how great you could be if were capable of emptying your "physical memory" of how you ride and starting from scratch with all the right techniques? If you could instantly recall and ingrain how it felt the first time you got it right, how different would it feel from where you are now?

 

I find that I constantly struggle with "forgetting" what I have been doing to learn how to do it better. What do you think?

[russell_bynum]

Totally.

 

Kids learn fast for two reasons:

 

1. They are not affraid to fall.

2. They have not yet learned how to do it wrong.

 

Also, my guess would be that women have an eaier time learning than men due to less ego.

[Art..]

"Beginner's mind" is a great way to think of it. I find the challenge for me is that the windows to use advanced skills are few and far between, because I'm riding on the road. (no track days). But I ABSOLUTELY agree with what you're saying........and I ain't gettin' any younger either.

 

I'll be coaching instructional baseball this year, and my wife gave me a great book, Little League Baseball Guide to Correcting the 25 Most Common Mistakes : Recognizing and Repairing the Mistakes Young Players Make. The book deals with the exact issues you describe, it really drives home points about muscle memory, bad habits and the difficulty of reversing them, and the importance of starting young. I wish my Little League coach had read this book.

[kld41]

There are a lot of things that go into the "right" technique. The right technique of 10 and 20 and 30 years ago as it applies to racing may not and is not right today. The machines, the power, the suspension and in many cases the tracks, and certainly tires have CHANGED and will do so again - or on a continuous basis.

 

Something that is definitively WRONG may be another story.

 

I think as in everything - the combination that works requires both previous experience and the ability to change or adapt and the willingness to try new things.

[ShovelStrokeEd]

David,

An interesting viewpoint. What you said makes particular sense to me in that, in my current situation, I rarely think about my riding at all until I make a monumental blunder and then have to figure out why.

 

I think my primary problem is that I ride too much. I use one or more of my motorcycles as my transportation. Sole and exclusive. That means communting to work, down to the corner for groceries, over to the pub for a quick pint, to the Dr. for my 1/4terly checkup. To me, riding is only approached with the old anticipation and pleasure when I am heading out for a recreational ride, by myself or with a few friends. The rest of the time, I'm just riding to get there. Would not at all surprise me if the same mind set did not apply to the dumb cage drivers we sometimes encounter. They are capable of better riding/driving but are not focused on the task, only the destination.

 

I'll try to concentrate more and let my goal seeking be more toward riding well rather than just arriving.

 

thanks

Ed

[Erick]

I think my primary problem is that I ride too much. I use one or more of my motorcycles as my transportation. Sole and exclusive. That means communting to work, down to the corner for groceries, over to the pub for a quick pint, to the Dr. for my 1/4terly checkup. To me, riding is only approached with the old anticipation and pleasure when I am heading out for a recreational ride, by myself or with a few friends. The rest of the time, I'm just riding to get there. Would not at all surprise me if the same mind set did not apply to the dumb cage drivers we sometimes encounter. They are capable of better riding/driving but are not focused on the task, only the destination.

After 25 years of cage driving and only two months of motorcycling, I notice that this mind set creeps in very quickly if you use the bike on a daily basis for commuting. Today, as usual, I rode the bike to work. As always, the same roads. After about 8 miles, I suddenly "woke up" and asked myself: "Gosh, have I really crossed that bridge in the previous village already?" A feeling most experienced riders/drivers will recognize.

 

Mixed feelings about that.

(1) I'm feeling pretty confident on the bike already and master the most important techniques without having to concentrate on the task

(2) That ain't good at all!

 

On the 6th of February, I will attend my first meeting at a local motorcycle club. I plan to join them on weekly rides on Sundays, starting March 2004. And certainly I hope to meet experienced riders who definitely will comment on my riding, and offer me similar feedback as can be found here at BMWSporttouring.com

Something to really look forward to!

[Voodoo]

Art Said: I find the challenge for me is that the windows to use advanced skills are few and far between, because I'm riding on the road.

 

The exact same for me. Although I've done a few track days here and there, and certainly yearn for more and more, when you're on the track, there are people all around telling you what you're doing right and what you're doing wrong - which I guess is why you do it . However it's on the street that you really need to forget what you know and re-examine everything on a constant basis because that's where I tend to get too comfortable until something reminds me that I shouldn't.

 

Ed Said:I think my primary problem is that I ride too much.

 

First of all, Ed, I fail to see how that's a problem . It is however a good point. One of the real wake up calls I had regarding this whole Beginner's Mind thing was when a few months ago, I realized something that I could be doing better while driving - not riding, but driving as in cage operation - that was a result of the riding that I had been doing. Not a "be more aware" type thing, but an actual technique issue that I think has helped my driving tremendously. Remember that I've been racing cars for many years and, as a result, had a certain level of confidence in my driving abilities. But there it was, something that I could be doing better - and makes a significant difference - right in front of my face, and I never saw it before because I chose to take it all for granted. However, thinking about my riding made it obvious in my driving. If I hadn't been open to the "newness" of the feeling, I would have never have seen it.

[leikam]

I don't think it's either reasonable or desirable to reapproach riding with a genuine sense of newness. It was quite nerve wracking to ride on the street in the beginning, even though I had developed the skills to do it successfully (if not elegantly).

 

But I do think it's worthwhile to reassess where one's skills are and what bad habits one has. It's not commonly at the front of my mind, but I do sometimes remember to use good technique (e.g., cornering) even when it's not "necessary".

 

I've become unhappy with my decelleration technique. When lane splitting, you sometimes need to slow down to adjust to the traffic configuration. I've realized that the way I do it leaves the bike too unsettled at a critical moment. So I'm working on relearning my reactions to improve this. It's a small thing, but worthwhile to me.

[Ken H.]

The rest of the time, I'm just riding to get there.

Ed, your comment struck a cord with me as that is what I was thinking about as my challenge as I was reading this thread. How’s the saying go, “Familiarity breeds contempt?” I think sometimes what we need is a catalyst to spark the desire to improve. If all we need to do is get from A to B, and what we have been doing is getting it done successfully, where’s the motivation to change?

 

For me it was just getting a RT (coming from the metric cruiser world) and suddenly awakening to whole different “level” of riding, and face-to-face with the need for new skills to do it even ½ way well. Not to say that begrudgingly because I have always enjoyed challenging myself, and I was certainly bored with the cruiser thing.

 

I think if we are “stuck in a rut” in our riding, be it from habit, boredom, indifference, or not even knowing we are, we should seek out a way to shake things up a bit. A new class of bike might be a bit extreme, but certainly, study some books, take a skills class, do a track day, ride in a new setting, etc. Go out of our way to “re-discover” the challenge of learning to ride better so to speak!

 

[David]

As Kevin Schwantz says, "Some people have been riding for twenty years, repeating that first year twenty times." In other words, they still have those habits, some of which aren't good.

 

That's always stuck with me.

[Laura]

Every time I ride the RT, I try and learn something new about how to ride it and how I ride it

 

I totally agree David, no matter how long one rides there is always something new to be learned. I think it's one of the reasons I find riding relaxing. There is nothing else on my mind but riding. Every one of the senses is working and the mind is constantly adjusting to different situations and possible scenarios. Sometime I even talk to myself inside my helmet reminding myself of things I should be doing correctly as opposed to a incorrect bad habit.

 

 

Also, my guess would be that women have an eaier time learning than men due to less ego.

 

I think that's partly true. I find whenever I'm in any type of training class with men it's usually the women who ask more questions. I guess men think they're expected to know it all and we gals figure what the hell. We also take to things like motorcycling more slowly and cautiously due to less ego.

 

S.O. and I constantly have this conversation. I think he's a better rider than me because he's more aggressive and more willing to take a risk. I'm no slouch and can keep a the pace with most riders but when things start getting above my head I back right off. There is no ego getting in the way of my good sense....most of the time. I can be pushed though....someday I'll tell you the story of the two HD riders; Ape Hanger and Stock Boy on Route 15 Sometimes you just gotta show 'em up....I ain't no wussy girl .