Letting fear control you

[erik]

What Duc and 90s said: Don't push yourself. Ride within your limits/comfort zone.

Read the attachments in the first post in this thread:
http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?t=5482
on cornering technique (late apexing) and go ride and practice that.

Also try supporting your weight on the pegs rather than just sitting on the seat, and try shifting your weight around (not mid corner) to see how it affects things.

[Nagash]

my bike is a GZ250 not sure what the tyres are at this stage its spent more time in the shop than on the road... an i am very comfortable on this bike but i have not had it set up for me suspension wise.... as soon as i get it back from getting the top end rebuilt im selling it and buying brand new bike
looking at a intruder 250 as i have found cruisers are more my style find them easier to ride than the sports and sport tourer

hope that helps

Good on you for sticking with the cruisers..

I do a fair bit of open road riding and have found that my wee cruiser can keep up with all the other sporties round corners. It's all a matter of knowing your bike's capabilities especially with cruisers cause when the exhaust starts to scrape.. you don't get any more lean.


I understand the fear of open road riding.. and I would like to recommend to just come on a group ride and just give it a try but group rides really do push riders. Even on the 250 Easter tour we were doing about 130-140 some getting to the 180's only restricted by the capabilities of your bike and you do feel obliged to keep up.

I mean, it'd be perfectly fine for you to sit at the back and then I reckon you'd get over the fear pretty quickly, just make sure you don't let the competitive nature get to you.

First time I was worried, but after say an 8 hour ride round the coro loop, your skills and knowledge of the bike increase by enourmous amounts. Just start easy and you'll automatically push yourself harder as you go.

[fireball]

I understand the fear of open road riding.. and I would like to recommend to just come on a group ride and just give it a try but group rides really do push riders. Even on the 250 Easter tour we were doing about 130-140 some getting to the 180's only restricted by the capabilities of your bike and you do feel obliged to keep up.

and thus why i keep the fuck away from group rides......

[martybabe]

ok. Who are you doing this for, if it's for group riding or for ride outs with a faster mate, stuff em! ask them to pull over every now and then and wait for ya. don't ever be pressurized into riding faster than than you feel is right.It will set you back enormously and ruin what little confidence you have.

If it's for you,great, you've got all the time in the world to improve,step by step.Little by little.Baby steps, you know the routine, you use it with your students.

The bike: It can take weeks to learn and trust a bike,possibly months before your both working together and that's if it's set up right in the first place.

You; this is all about you, nobody's timing ya nobody's taking the piss and no one will expect you to do better than you can.

The solution; all the above posts are good advice, track days,riding courses etc, for me and the way I learn?..find a good quiet route, good sweeping curves, good surfaces etc.Go out first thing Sunday morning and ride it like a pansy. look for gravel, bubbling tar,junctions,cow trails anything that may be a hazard. Forget your mountain passes and some great road you've heard of this is your road.Ride it again,which is your favourite bend? which bit do you hate? why, whats wrong with your speed/ line/approach/exit. Adjust it, experiment,practice. Build your confidence/ speed,slowly. You'll know when it feels right. ride it till your sick of riding the damn thing and you will own that road.It might take a day a week a fugging year, who's counting.

When you are the master of your bike and that road, move on, if you can ride that road well, albeit bored shitless, you can ride another road well and you will.
Good luck mate, don't give in, It's in ya, you just gotta bring it out.

[PrincessBandit]

Hi FB, any time you're doing Hunua and would like an extra rider for company let me know as I'd be happy to tag along. (Just flick me a pm if you want). When I was getting used to my bike and learning what I could do (and what put me outside my comfort zone) in terms of cornering etc. I stuck to the same route over and over until I gradually became more familiar with it. This in turn has lead to completing the "run" in a more enjoyable way, primarily a smoother ride and (not sooo important to me) quicker. I still tend to be much more cautious on unfamiliar roads, especially when I can't see sufficiently far enough ahead into corners, over rises, etc. By using the same circuit you will start to see the improvements, even if it takes time. Worked for me, so good luck - go for it!

[discotex]

A single trackday is worth six weeks of daily focused roadriding.

That's 100% correct. I really noticed my riding improve massively after the last trackday.

Cranking it on the track gives you the confidence you know you have reserve cornering left on the road.

[Skyryder]

As an outdoor instructor i deal with fear everyday, helping my students overcome fear of heights or trust issues getting them out of their comfort zone and discovering what they can do etc

but for myself its another story completely i still have a simple fear that controls me and after pushing myself i still can not overcome this fear

its the simple act of openroad riding and cornering, how can i overcome this fear? i know the basic principals of it all and nail all the basic riding at slow speed figure 8s and U turns all the basics a learner needs to know buts its this next step i cant get, i try to keep relaxed and have to remind myself to relax often

can anyone offer a solution to this?

It's not the fear of 'open road riding and cornering,' if you were fearfull of this you would not ride. You need to establish what your fear is before you can over come it.

Phobia's can be overcome but you must understand what this is first.

Skyryder

[CookMySock]

and thus why i keep the fuck away from group rides......

oh dear. you need someone at your level, or someone who will just ride with you and sit back. Pity you aren't anywhere near us - we're always doing newbie rides and sittin at or below the speed limit.

DB