I ain't as good as I once was.....

[russell_bynum]

(With apologies to Toby Keith for the title of this post.)

 

This is somewhat related to David's post on the Role of Understanding, Training, and Practice but I think it could take a different path, so I'm starting a new thread....

 

 

Three days this week, I commuted 106 miles round-trip to a training class at work. Probably about 30-40 miles of that per day was lane-splitting. Most of the rest of it was in heavy traffic, so I was constantly moving around from lane to lane positioning myself in the best possible spot.

 

I used to commute 120 miles/day by bike every day. Actually...I got back into motorcycling (I rode dirt bikes as a kid, but hadn't been on a bike in ~10 years) to do that commute, so I kind of got a trial by fire. I did that for several years.

 

I stopped commuting by bike for several reasons...first, it was sucking the fun out of riding. IMO, commuting was the worst of motorcycling (exposure to the elements, dealing with all the gear, not as comfortable as riding in the car, risk, etc) without any of the fun. It also wasn't saving us much time with our new commute, so it really just wasn't worth it.

 

Anyway...haven't been riding a whole lot in the last year...mostly because of Steven's arrival and the added demands on our time that he's brought, but I have managed to get out a few times for a quick afternoon/evening ride through the wine country and the mountains of northern San Diego county. Every one of those rides has included a few (10-15) minutes of "blowing out the cobwebs" practice in an empty parking lot working on basics like braking, tight turns, etc.

 

But, I really haven't dealt with traffic in a long time.

 

What I found getting back into it this week was interesting. I found I had four areas of difficulty:

1. Getting into the right frame of mind

2. Making my body do the things it needs to do to get the bike to do/go what/where my brain says.

3. Maintaining focus over a long (~1hr) period.

4. Awareness

 

 

1. Getting into the right frame of mind: When I commute (or deal with traffic in general) I'm very aggressive. I am constantly moving forward through traffic (whatever speed it is going) and I'm looking at the open spots...connecting open spots to form a path for myself. I lane split. I change lanes. I change lane position. I change speed. But...this is not how you'd ride if you were just out for a Sunday cruise without any traffic....it's a totally different mindset. I found that it took me a couple of miles (almost 10 miles on the first leg that first day) to get "into the groove" and thinking the way I needed to be thinking. That got better each day and each leg of the commute. Coming home on the last day I was in "commute mode" before the Tuono got up to normal operating Temp.

 

2. Making my body do what my brain tells it to do: This was a big deficiency. It really pointed out how "second nature" all of that bike control stuff had become to me when I was doing it every day. I found myself consciously thinking about how to sit, keeping my arms loose, how much throttle I needed to get up to speed, etc. I haven't really had an issue with that on my Sunday rides. What that really says to me is that I haven't been requiring as much precision from myself as I should. Dealing with traffic, and lane splitting in particular requires that you put the bike EXACTLY where you want it...often within just a few inches of your intended target. Likewise with your speed and with changes in your speed to match whatever's going on in traffic. Obviously, my Sunday rides have been too lax because my precision has gone way down. I can recall riding with Laney "back in the day" and seeing her put each wheel EXACTLY where she wanted to. For example, If we were making a right turn, she would make her turn just as the very left edge of her rear tire kissed the edge of a bot's dot. I've never been as good at that as Laney is, but I could get close. Likewise at the track, I used to be able to hit turn-in, apex, and exit markers dead-on lap after lap. That's gone way downhill since I haven't been riding as much and it didn't improve nearly as fast as I'd hoped over the three days of commuting. I found I was sometimes missing my marks by more than a foot, and that can spell disaster in a lane-splitting scenario. It really messed with my confidence and even though I know that my ass is the widest thing on the Tuono I found myself second-guessing the gap while splitting when things got tight. I used to be able to blaze through there on the RT knowing EXACTLY where my saddlebags and mirrors were in relation to the other vehicles.

 

3. Maintaining focus over a long period. As I mentioned, my state of mind when I'm commuting is very focused and very agressive. I can't listen to music and I can't have a conversation over the FRS/intercom when I'm in that mode because every single Neuron that I can control is being used for riding the bike. That's hard work. I found that towards the end of the commute, my mind would start to wander. I'd find myself thinking..."What exit did I just pass...was that Bundy Canyon or Baxter?" My mind was wandering. Traffic at that point on the ride was pretty light, so I could afford the lapse of concentration, but what really bothered me was I didn't consciously put myself into that mode...it just happened. This, also got better as the days went by, but MUCH slower than I would have liked. I still have a VERY long way to go there.

 

4. Awareness. As I mentioned above, I ride looking not at the cars, but at the space between them. That's not entirely true...I do look at the cars, but my FOCUS is on the space between them. To really get a good picture for what's about to happen on the road ahead of you, you need to be looking far ahead and also to each side. Stuff that happens on the shoulder a quarter-mile up can cause slowdowns and lane-changes three lanes over. Being aware of as much as possible helps you predict what's likely to happen next...which you need to do in order to plan your course and speed. I found that I was pretty good at being aware of what was happening in the lanes on each side of me, but not so good at tracking stuff beyond that. This meant that I had less time to deal with problems as they arose because I didn't predict them far enough in advance. It was never a big problem, but I did have to use my brakes a few times...which I generally don't like to do.

 

 

So...now what?

 

Well, I'm not going to start commuting by bike...I just don't enjoy that much.

 

I don't think I'll be able to start riding more than I have been able to.

 

So, I'm going to start working on ways to maximize the rides that I do have. I can work harder on hitting my marks in the twisties. I can work on getting "into the zone" faster. I have a different mindset when I'm in the twisties than when I'm commuting, but it's still a shift from "just riding along". I've got some physical triggers that I use to tell myself "OK, time to turn and burn!" and I can work on accelerating that transition from "just riding" to "turn and burn". Awareness and maintaining focus...I can work on that on my daily commutes in the car. I just have to be sure it doesn't stress me out because I'm seeing all these gaps that I can't get to because I'm in a big slow wide heavy car instead of a motorcycle.

 

So...what do YOU notice you are lacking when you get back on the bike after a hiatis...or get into a different kind of riding that you haven't done in a while? What do you do to get yourself back up to speed?

[swilson]

Its amazing how little time it takes off the bike for it to start affecting your performance when you get back on. Many times after only a week off or a long weekend I get back on and find its obvious to me I'm not riding at the level I was a few days back.

 

On my personal bike I notice this much less, but its painfully obvious to me when I get on the work bike. Tight slow speed turns are always the best indicator for me. When I'm rusty my slow speed turns start to widen up. Usually an hour later the cob webs are knocked down and I'm riding well again... if the cause isn't time off the bike, but is sickness or distractions I always take it as an indicator to be even more cautious and maybe to park it for awhle.

[Paul Mihalka]

It will come back fast. When we lived in Southern Florida for five years, November to March riding was Florida only. That means flat, with the only exciting turns being the freeway ramps. When I got up to Northern Georgia and the Smokies the first time in spring, once there it took me at least a half day of intensive riding, paying attention and correcting myself, to get back in shape.

[RTP'er]

I commuted twice this week just because we have weather in the 70s right now. I find it just really isn't worth it. Sure it is fun being on the bike, but my risk factor is so much higher than on my Sunday rides. On the fun rides I am rarely near a car. On my commute I pass hundreds of cars in a very short time. People are on their cell phones, smoking and flicking cigarettes out the window, zig zagging and barely staying in their lanes. Several times during lane splitting I had to almost come to a complete stop because the hole suddenly closed up, willfully or not.

 

I will only do it on the odd occasion. There is no reason for me to increase my risk factor by that much.

[bridwell52]

I don't know how you guys do it. About 3 times a year we head to the Carolina and have to go right thru Atlanta on I85. This takes about an hour and it totally wears me out. The intense concentration

and many threats from multiple lanes is unnerving for me. Once we get out of Atlanta its like a big weight taken off my shoulders. Riding is a very challenging thing and is why most of us do it. Some challenges rub out the fun factor and I ride for fun. Our last trip up, I trailered the KGT.

Trailer Queen

David

[Nice n Easy Rider]

I don't know how you guys do it. About 3 times a year we head to the Carolina and have to go right thru Atlanta on I85. This takes about an hour and it totally wears me out. The intense concentration

and many threats from multiple lanes is unnerving for me. Once we get out of Atlanta its like a big weight taken off my shoulders. Riding is a very challenging thing and is why most of us do it. Some challenges rub out the fun factor and I ride for fun. Our last trip up, I trailered the KGT.

Trailer Queen

David

 

The first time I stopped riding was when I lived in Ft. Lauderdale and commuted 35-40 miles to Miami every day on I-95. That was an extreme stressor that wore me out every day - being wary of the cagers and of all the debris falling off trucks. Even riding on weekends became a chore because there were so many poor drivers to contend with. At least my short (9-10 miles) commute now is on a relatively quiet 2-lane country road and only the last mile or so has any traffic, and that is only in the afternoon. Do have to watch out for those crazy deer though.

[Urban Surfer]

Riding all year in this local is impractical, and sometimes impossible, so the bike has a three to four month hibernation period. Each spring when I get back on, I ride somewhere where there is no traffic, so I can get back into it with out any road surfing. The first few days of riding I do some refreshing, but it's a few weeks before I go ripping around corners, or riding two up. Last year I didn't get a chance to refresh. We loaded the bikes into a trailer and headed to Mexico, everything was too much of a hurry, even the trailer was too small. So hear we are in a foreign country, the bike loaded like a truck riding two up, after we had driven non stop from Surrey to San Diego.

There was no road surfing, unfortunately the friction was between each other. It all turned out well, and we had a great adventure, only a few bent rims and a few broken things that just cost money.

Next time I will be refreshed.

[LuckyLeif]

I tend not to do much winter riding, so I'm a little rusty come March. What I do (below) works for me in putting a bit of hone on the blade. Essentially, I like to work on the basic bldg blocks of braking and cornering. So I find an empty parking lot (the MSF range works well) and go thru the MSF braking exercises and then do the cornering circles and fig-8 of TC-ARC. I concentrate on the basic elements of technique (body position, vision. etc) and in half an hour I feel much better prepared to deal with real riding. Point-of-fact, I usually do this practice every month when riding, usually after students have left the range.

[Dave in Doodah]

It will come back fast. When we lived in Southern Florida for five years, November to March riding was Florida only. That means flat, with the only exciting turns being the freeway ramps. When I got up to Northern Georgia and the Smokies the first time in spring, once there it took me at least a half day of intensive riding, paying attention and correcting myself, to get back in shape.

Some of us have only ever lived in central Fla or KS since we started riding... I'm screwed.

[EddyQ]

I think issues 1 and 2 are related and pretty much licked. You can guage your flaws, that is key to success. Being a little scared is the correct responce and aids with issues 4.

 

Issues 3 and 4 are related also. I'm not sure they are easily licked. In my past, I too commuted over 100mi (by cage). Aggressive driving and constantly testing my surroundings helped a lot. I haven't done that kind of commute in a long time. I grew to hate it and moved.

 

I do like commuting by bike now. My commute has no highway, no heavy traffic and constantly changing sideroads for 40 minutes each way. I still test my surroundings, but less aggressively.

I often blast the bike to high speeds and have fun in the curves. But, this is not a "dealing with traffic" act. It is an act that is fun. I may have lost my magic in traffic a little bit, but I don't care. I will never loose the feeling of doing it correctly, so I am likely better off than those drivers that haven't got that experience.

 

 

[StretchMark]

If it makes you feel any better, we never thought you were very good. Probably more a case of perception approaching reality

[Scriber]

I experience the same things after a layoff as you Russell. My strategy is to set up a figure 8 with my bag of half tennis balls in a local parking lot and run through a bunch of drills. The simple figure 8 lets me work on most of the elements of cornering, including vision and transitions. I enjoy the practice and always feel smoother after the workout. I always feel stiff and jerky when I start.