Target fixation: Can it be avoided?

[mujambee]

Today, coming from work, I was thinking about this target fixation thing and on a couple of corners did a simple experiment: keep my eyes on the inner side of the road but try to steer my bike on the outer (two lanes, no traffic). It more or less worked, but required some concentration.

Now the questions are:

Do you beleve with some training you could avoid target fixation and be able to steer your bike wherever you like?

Wold that be safer than trying to avoid looking at the obstacle?

You can always practice avoiding target fixation, it only requires an open area and a couple of lines in the ground, but it is difficult to find where to practise "non looking at obstacles" without heading into one.

[cowboyz]

while it is possible to look in one direction at make your bike go in another it is not good practice. Why would you want to?
Imagine this..
You come into a corner a little hot, there is a tree on the outter corner. It catches your eye. You have practiced looking somewhere your bike is not going so you gaze lovingly into the trees eyes (treehugger) and you get safety round the corner.

All this took years of practice and assumes that you dont freak out and run into it anyhow.

Or, you could just look where you want to go, ignore the tree altogether (the tree wont mind, really) and steer safety round the corner.

[MSTRS:Me]

Target fixation...another way of saying Look where you are going - because you will go where you are looking.
Read this thread - you might find it useful. http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...ad.php?t=91853

[yod]

I have suffered at the hands of the merciless TF God

Just say no.....

[cowboyz]

I have suffered at the hands of the merciless TF God

Just say no.....

And the punishing result is you are sentenced to ride a honda.

The implications are far and wide.

Just say No!

[MSTRS:Me]

Some good stuff in here too... http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...arget+fixation

[Winston001]

I think Mujanbee is saying that we should avoid TF but need to steer the bike where it should go, rather than straight up the bank on the inside of a corner.

Must admit I'm in two minds about this. I try to look ahead to the vanishing point around the corner but it means I don't look at the road surface close to the front wheel. That leads to unpleasant surprises.

[mujambee]

I think Mujanbee is saying that we should avoid TF but need to steer the bike where it should go, rather than straight up the bank on the inside of a corner.

That's the point. Imagine you are carriying a tray of drinks on a room full of knee-height obstacles. You can't see the floor just in front of you, but somehow you are able to memorize where the obstacles are, and safely carry the drinks to the other end.

I wish I was able to do exactly the same thing with te bike, look at the obstacle but steer away from it. (if it was a car I want to make sure they don't suddenly open a door in front of me).

Must admit I'm in two minds about this. I try to look ahead to the vanishing point around the corner but it means I don't look at the road surface close to the front wheel. That leads to unpleasant surprises.

You need to practise two skills here: memory and "fast eye movement". Some time ago I saw a BBC show with Jeremy McClark and Colin McRae. They put a camera inside the car and filmed Colin's face when driving along a mud road. His eyes never stoped, it seemed like he was looking everywhere at the same time.

[sinfull]

They put a camera inside the car and filmed Colin's face when driving along a mud road. His eyes never stoped, it seemed like he was looking everywhere at the same time.

Don't you do that ?

[MSTRS:Me]

His eyes never stoped, it seemed like he was looking everywhere at the same time.

Don't you do that ?

I do! Of course, plenty of caffeine helps...

[mujambee]

Don't you do that ?

I try, but can't do it fast enough.

I believe I'm better at memorizing everything in front of me. Usually I look far ahead and "register" the road, and only really look at potentially dangerous spots.

[sinfull]

I do! Of course, plenty of caffeine helps...

Haha true that but it's the jaw grinding i hate !

I try, but can't do it fast enough.

I believe I'm better at memorizing everything in front of me. Usually I look far ahead and "register" the road, and only really look at potentially dangerous spots.

I'd be practising the perifial vision rather than remembering "there's a raised pothole coming up ................ now" remembering obsticals is all part of it, but don't help ya on a new stretch of road ! Sure as hell don't look at the mountains while rushing to meet the ferry on the sth islands west coast, even if i had just travelled it, (example, as the mrs once said "weren't them snow covered mountains beautifull", after one trip down there, the three riders with me just laughed, knowing full well i didn't see no snow ! I aint done that trip near enough)

[BOGAR]

From my understanding of target fixation, it is like what was said above. If your going into a corner too hot and a tree catches your eye or you have some other reason to panic / upset your concentration and something then catches your eye, then you suddenly fixate on it. This is not something you want to do but you do anyway. You effectively become a possum in the headlights and its the fact that you are not looking where you want to go but at the object you hope you wont hit, so you go where you are looking and hit it any way. I think the skill you are trying to get is the confidence in your riding and bike to be able to snap out of it and look back to the correct line around the corner. I feel that over time if you try, you will start to under stand what causes it or what it feels like and with experience learn to control it. Track time is highly recommend I feel, as you have a chance to get to know your bike and its cornering abilities which is somewhere very safe. Certainly for me this has been a great place to un-learn breaking into a corner which has been my bad habit for a while.

[mujambee]

I'd be practising the perifial vision rather than remembering "there's a raised pothole coming up ................ now" remembering obsticals is all part of it, but don't help ya on a new stretch of road

I didn't explain well. What I really do is keep my eyes focused as much as possible at the end of my visible area, and register everything that "comes". Periferal vision helps me locate those things and when are at a good distance I focus my eyes on them for a split second then back ahead. If I identify it as danger then I change course to avoid contact.

Maybe periferal vision is what I was looking for with my original post. Keep your eyes focused when you want but be able to ride using that periferal vision.

[BOGAR]

Please delete