Be a Fish.. Not an Ant...
Paolo Volpara © OMM April 2000
The first Turkish Course in co-operation with Mick Wheeler (Advanced Riding Techniques) took place in May 1999 and a lot of good riding has gone under the wheel since. This article summarizes the learning of this first workshop on advanced Riding, introducing to Turkey the RoadCraft System. It was the very beginning of OMM and ARA program and for most of us “Be a Fish” has become a regular mantra.
The beauty and perfection of competent riding resides in knowing that learning never stops: how many time we got from Riders the cold shoulders when speaking about training. “I do not need- they say- any of your training courses. I have been on the bike for years and I know…”
“The difference between “using the bike” and “biking” is in the learning attitude” the opening of Mick course was clearly on this subject. “Biking is receiving information: searching, processing, evaluating them as the base for action… You have to put yourself in conditions (mentally and physically) to receive the maximum amount of information. Partial information is better than no information at all”.
For this “information search” two elements (beside a good sight and a clean visor) are essential:
• Continuous scanning at 360 degrees
• Good position on the road offering maximum visibility.
On scanning Mick left as memory aid a short note: “Move the head! Obtain cross view when approaching bends, corners and junctions: it will give early opportunity to position for the next bend. It gives warning of impending problems, approaching vehicles and hazards. As we move trough junctions check that nothing is coming. Because we have done this and we are in the correct position we may be able to avoid a collision when it will be us getting hurt”
It was then time to learn how to evaluate information: for this, on the class blackboard, Mick wrote a surprising phrase “How can I get hurt here?”
Evaluating the information in our possession must be done with safety in the first and foremost place. Where the danger will come from? How serious is the menace? What is involved in the threat? What kind of development can I expect from the situation and from the information acquired?
This process is not so difficult when done in the comfort of an armchair but it becomes tricky when information’s analysis takes place in a bike moving at high speed.
Nick told us as research proved that Formula One Driver can divide a cent of a second in ten parts and use them to take decision at differed time. We are not at that level but we have to learn how to rapidly and effectively process the constant flow of information.
If “the past is the best predictor of the future” the personal cumulative experience combined with the experience of fellow riders is the sure base for evaluating a dangerous situation (by the way… all situations are potentially dangerous).
• Reading signs on the road, colours, movement of the surface, liquid spills, traces left by other users.
• Reading the surrounding areas of the road, electric poles, trees, fences.
• Reading hints: a kid follows a ball crossing the road, a taxi empty will stop for passengers, mud traces may indicate tractors on the road.
• Reading the mind of the road users by always try to get eyes contact. That driver in front with the rear mirror wrongly placed will not see us when turning left.
In this area the key point to remember is Mick advice to gain time for evaluation by reducing speed well in advance of the event.
On his words “You want to be a spectator of an event not a part of it”. If the information acquired rings an alarm bell it is always appropriate to reduce speed in order to gain time for evaluation. New riders should do this well in advance: their attention is still focusing mainly on machine controls and they need more time to process the incoming information.
Acquisition - Evaluation and then Action. Once the situation has been assessed and the danger identified it is time to take the appropriate speed, the adequate gear and the right position. For this the groups of students took the road and the road joined Mick in the teacher podium.
The system is the one of a scout ahead of the group, while one rider goes under Mick tuition for 20 minutes. During this time Mick sometime stays in front of the student, sometime follows him closely: then the entire group stop and Mick comments on the riding section.
It is tough going with mud lurking on the borders, with long stretches of wet surface and with the usual difficulties of Turkish road conditions. The attention goes to the “road camber” a subject maybe marginal in Europe but crucial in this Country. The cambers, here, are not always positive or constant in the corners and on straight road the camber can arch quite considerably. This road inclination generates sliding reactions on the bike and we learn pretty fast to add this piece of information in our repertoire.
“The position – Mick said – should take into consideration three factors in order of importance. First Safety, second Traction, third Visibility” Turkish road are good teachers of this order of importance. If, to gain traction or visibility, you place yourself in a risky position marginally at the centre of an approaching blind corner chances are that an incoming driver will impart a hard lesson on body and machine. If, to gain visibility, you place the bike in a spot with troublesome traction (mud/gravel on the road. slippery surface, negative camber, tarmac joints) the last think you may see could be your bike skidding “over the asphalt-ocean like a stone”.
In conclusion reaching the maximum visibility by positioning the bike in the right spot cannot be done at the expenses of safety and traction.
Another common theme was the “Whhooshss Style”.
“Be a fish” Mick repeated “not ant! To close too quickly behind vehicles when overtaking is not the right movement: it makes us poking nose out and having to dive back-in again. If the vehicle in front brakes or even slows down we are in trouble! Don’t rush, keep it easy by positioning yourself further back for view and safety. When the overtaking opportunity comes, glide past the vehicle like a fish. Do not zoom in and out to ride around them!”
The low speed maneuvering session was a good opportunity for all riders to refresh elegant and safe movements. “Forget, the front brake, take your fingers away from it! Rear foot brake only as for final stopping. Keep it smart and tidy with no legs paddling around (if you want to paddle go to the beach!). Make yourself practice slow speed work at every opportunity and do not take the easy way” Exercises at low speed involved stop-and-go, full-lock-turning” and emergency braking.
Mick continued in patiently instructing all riders to the best line across corners. Keeping the left of the road lane for maximum visibility when turning right and vice-versa we learned to “go wide, go late” in the corners using the theoretically difficult but practically natural counter-steering technique. “Why twist and turn with the road when maybe we can go straight down the middle? Only if it is safe). Why pull into the right after overtaking when perhaps we can flow smoothly into position with no abrupt or sudden movements of the bike that wastes time and it slows you down?” Finally, Mick left us with further advises: “Better late in this world than early in the next. Changing lane at high speed in motorway while filtering is a death sentence. The car drivers will not always see you. As you swoop into a gap a car may be entering on the other side. If traffic is moving at good speed why not flow with it? How much time we really safe by zooming close between those vehicles?” “The indicators are too frequently left on for too long too often by too many! Why use indicators if nobody behind? Constantly check if the indicators are left on…make it a habit. One day one accident will happen because we gave the wrong indication from a left on signal.”
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