Getting Into The Groove

[Zed]

Went on an awesome ride yesterday up thru Dargaville/Opononi/Kaikohe/Whangarei and back to Ak, and early on in the ride one of the riders I was with experienced some difficulty 'getting into the groove' as we say. A quick stop in Helensville found out that her seat was not on properly so that was one reason why her riding was not up to her normal standards, but it got me thinking...

Surely we all have those days when we get on the bike and our riding is just *crap*, we are out of our riding groove, we have all of a sudden lost our good standard of riding, our lines into corners are out, our concentration in general is lacking. Why? I'm interested in your thoughts. What do you do to remedy the situation?

[Karma]

I've found that crashing is generally a good way to lose your groove.

At first you seem to approach every corner with a voice in the back of your head saying "if you fluff this corner it's gonna cost you x amount of dollers and x number of days off work to fix".

[Zed]

I've found that crashing is generally a good way to lose your groove...

Crashing certainly knocks ones confidence, and I've heard of some riders never being able to get back into motorcycling because of a bad accident...but that's not really relevant to my point in this thread Mr Weasel!

[zadok]

I can only really get 'in the groove' on the open road / country. The City is the pits.
MY wifes birthday yesterday and she wanted to go for a ride, so we went and did a 300km loop. Stopped off at a couple of nice places for refreshments and lunch. Great day 'in the groove'.

[far queue]

Surely we all have those days when we get on the bike and our riding is just *crap*, we are out of our riding groove, we have all of a sudden lost our good standard of riding, our lines into corners are out, our concentration in general is lacking. Why? I'm interested in your thoughts. What do you do to remedy the situation?

Why does it happen? - God knows
What do I do about it? - Just accept it's one of those days and stop trying to push the envelope, slow down, enjoy the scenery. There'll plenty more days to go for it.

[Bleck K6]

Went on an awesome ride yesterday up thru Dargaville/Opononi/Kaikohe/Whangarei and back to Ak,

And you didn't Invite us Northerners.
Did you have a blast through the forest?

[erik]

Surely we all have those days when we get on the bike and our riding is just *crap*, we are out of our riding groove, we have all of a sudden lost our good standard of riding, our lines into corners are out, our concentration in general is lacking. Why? I'm interested in your thoughts. What do you do to remedy the situation?

I think for me it's often tiredness, but also if I haven't done much riding recently then I usually feel like I'm not at my best when I get out on the bike. Also my mood plays a part.

I don't really remedy the situation. I just try to ride to however I'm feeling at the time, knowing that some days will be better than others.

[Motu]

Why does it happen? - God knows
What do I do about it? - Just accept it's one of those days and stop trying to push the envelope, slow down, enjoy the scenery. There'll plenty more days to go for it.

Yep,it's just not your day,so take a cruise and check out some stuff you normaly blast past,stop somewhere you've always wanted to stop,take that road you don't know where it goes.There's a lot more to bikes than going fast.

[Zed]

And you didn't Invite us Northerners.
Did you have a blast through the forest?

Well I did actually invite ONE northerner but he said he was coming down to Auckland for the looong weekend!!!

The forest was the highlight of my ride! 28kms of non-stop tight twisties, luved it, and coming over the hill to Opo and seeing those white sand dunes across the water was just priceless! Much enjoyed the road from Opo to Kaikohe too!!

There will be a next time Tiller.

[James Deuce]

I had a superb ride yesterday. But. After nearly 4 years of riding bikes again, it finally hit home. My groove is very different to my previous period of intensive motorcycling.

The guys I was riding with were all on Guzzis, and one guy on a '89 1000S easily kept up with me when I turned the wick up a bit. Especially in the twisty bits. I evaluate hazards differently now, and have built a huge buffer into my personal safety margins. If I can't see through a corner, the pace goes down. Most of all I don't let the competitive urge out on the road anymore, don't cross the centre line, and "worst" of all, don't exceed instant license loss speed.

I still have fun though. But my new found maturity and my "memory of motorcycling" have been cause a touch of dissonance that would shake me out of any groove I'd established. Yesterday was different (at last) and the hugely experienced and much faster rider following me didn't complain about having to follow a slow guy. I guess medium pace is OK then

[Zed]

My groove is very different to my previous period of intensive motorcycling.

I suppose my riding groove has become more clearer to me over the past few years with doing so much more long riding than before, and more riding has increased my skill and learning about how to better recognise that groove, not to mention improving on entering and staying in it!

...I guess medium pace is OK then

Of course it's okay, my ride yesterday was pretty much that pace with very few loss-of-licence speeds achieved, good when the guy in front has a radar detector too, we saw 9 marked police cars (6 or 7 HP) and 3 undercovers ALL on SH1!!

[riffer]

I don''t ride as much as I'd like, particularly riding for fun - with four young kids there always seems to be so much to do, so I really treasure the opportunity to ride and as such, I really notice when its an off day.

Like most of us, I guess slowing down and getting back to basics helps me.

[Highlander]

Have yet to narrow it down but have noticed that some days it comes naturally while others you feel like you have to work at it.
Doesn't seem to make any difference if I am solo or two up, have had good and not so good rides each way (yet to have a bad ride ).

[Adamski]

Went on an awesome ride yesterday up thru Dargaville/Opononi/Kaikohe/Whangarei and back to Ak, and early on in the ride one of the riders I was with experienced some difficulty 'getting into the groove' as we say. A quick stop in Helensville found out that her seat was not on properly so that was one reason why her riding was not up to her normal standards, but it got me thinking...

Surely we all have those days when we get on the bike and our riding is just *crap*, we are out of our riding groove, we have all of a sudden lost our good standard of riding, our lines into corners are out, our concentration in general is lacking. Why? I'm interested in your thoughts. What do you do to remedy the situation?

Well Zed I don't think you're talking about going fast necessarily, but it's nice to be getting in the groove on yer bike (or other places I could think of hmm.)

For me that groove is about feeling completely in tune with the road surface, sensing every slight up and down or texture change. Where the bike is almost an extension of the body. (OK I like adventure riding ) Speed also comes into the equation at times.

How to get back there is probably forgetting whatever is on the mind (or fixing your seat, tires etc.) and just feel the road. Good luck groovers!

[Zed]

Well Zed I don't think you're talking about going fast necessarily...

No, i'm not at all. Not sure if others have perceived that or not? I believe a motorcyclists 'groove' can be separated from his/her riding 'pace', though they are closely related. In fact i recall feeling out of my groove multiple times when i'm going slow at the beginning of a ride, i say to myself "snap out of it!" Works too. When it comes to life and death i start getting real serious, gotta get in that groove!

For me that groove is about feeling completely in tune with the road surface, sensing every slight up and down or texture change. Where the bike is almost an extension of the body.

Yes, the rider becoming one with the machine as they say!

How to get back there is probably forgetting whatever is on the mind (or fixing your seat, tires etc.) and just feel the road. Good luck groovers!

Switching off ones mind and allowing the body to feel the bike & road does work! There's a bit of an art to it though...for some it doesn't come naturally.