Riding under the influence... of RAGE (LEARN FROM MY MISTAKE)

[Maki]

Bro you're real lucky that your mistake was one you could walk away from.
My brothers both required serious hospital time when they have come off.
Me? I'm pretty cautious, although the other day going down the onramp at Hampton Downs headed for Huntly, a nissan murano was in the slow lane, looked right at me, and then proceeded to not even move into the COMPLETELY empty fast lane. I was right next to him!! I had to brake and pull in behind him.
I saw the red rage you mention.

THAT made you see the red rage? Chill out man.

[vifferman]

Really, your mistake #1 was not going "Oh shit! A WhiteVanDriver! Danger! DANGER, Will Robinson!!"

You have to be very careful around them, even if they're stationary (might be a camera van).

Good for you owning up to your (other) mistakes though - gives you an opportunity to learn from them, and shows you're on the way to becoming a better rider.
Attitude is everything.

[Noidy]

Question about the target fixation. The few times I have pushed myself beyond my meagre limits and am thinking "this will hurt". I have always (tried) to keep my line and looked (instinctivley) for the softest place to end up. Thankfully I have not yet found out how hard the soft places are. How bad is target fixation in a situation like this? Should I force myself to keep my eyes fixed on the exit of the corner?

[Milts]

Question about the target fixation. The few times I have pushed myself beyond my meagre limits and am thinking "this will hurt". I have always (tried) to keep my line and looked (instinctivley) for the softest place to end up. Thankfully I have not yet found out how hard the soft places are. How bad is target fixation in a situation like this? Should I force myself to keep my eyes fixed on the exit of the corner?

This is something I'm curious about. If I'd looked through the corner, I honestly don't know if I would have made it or if I would have lowsided and hit something a lot more solid than the ditch. I think the best answer is "don't put yourself in this situation until you know the answer". Probably best to go to a trackday or two and find out just how well your bike can corner.

And thanks for all the 'good attitude' comments. It's nice to think I can salvage something from this fuckup.

[Laxi]

If I had a bigger bike, I could have easily throttled in front of him.

[vifferman]

I have always (tried) to keep my line and looked (instinctivley) for the softest place to end up. Thankfully I have not yet found out how hard the soft places are. How bad is target fixation in a situation like this? Should I force myself to keep my eyes fixed on the exit of the corner?

This is something I'm curious about. If I'd looked through the corner, I honestly don't know if I would have made it or if I would have lowsided and hit something a lot more solid than the ditch.

Yes, you're right - better to not put yourself in the situation in the first place.
Target fixation is bad: you tend to go where you look, but mainly because of focus.

But let me ask you both a question: do you think in the same corner where you went "Oh crap - I'm not gonna make it!" and looked for somewhere to crash, that if someone who was a really excellent rider was on your bike he/she would've done the same? Or would he/she have made it? Would Valentino Rossi for example, have made it around that corner at the speed you were going, or maybe even faster? How much of it is the bike and/or the corner, and how much is the speed, and how much is the rider's brain?

Apart from corners where the entry speed is WAY too high, or there's shit all over the road or whatever, an awful lot of it is your head, your confidence, your experience. Knowing you can make it, the bike can get around, there's enough grip, you can brake and scrub off speed, you can hang off more, whatever. When you lack that experience/head space/confidence, you tend to focus on NOT making the corner, and forget all about riding through the corner and out the other side.
In some ways, it's not because of where your eyes are looking, but all about your focus. Your eyes look through the corner, and they're not looking at the corner, but as far ahead as you can see: the next corner, and the corner and bit of road after that. You've already scoped and set up for the current corner before you entered it, and filed it away in your brain. You're not going so fast you can't make it or scrub off a bit of speed if you have to, or alter you line to avoid the squashed possum.

If you're inexperienced, and/or your riding is crap (maybe just because you're tired, hungover, or whatever), then your rhythm is off, your focus is off, and you're not "in the groove/zone/moment". Instead, you're focused on where you are in the corner, on your fears and doubts, and feelings. That controls you and then your focus is entirely off cornering and instead is on the part of the corner in front of you instead of the exit. You've programmed in a new route.

[Milts]

Glad someone said it I figured I didn't have the experience to say it to him. Also, Mudfart, there's nothing wrong with having to brake and pull in behind someone. Just because you're on a bike doesn't mean you have to be in front of everybody else on the road (despite how much fun it can be...)

@ Viffer: You're absolutely right. Like I said, I'm sure a good rider could have gotten out of the position I got myself into. I think going to a track day and working on your skills in a safer environment would help here. Even though I knew it was probably possible for the bike to get out of the situation I didn't have the confidence to even try. Not a good look.

If you're inexperienced, and/or your riding is crap (maybe just because you're tired, hungover, or whatever), then your rhythm is off, your focus is off, and you're not "in the groove/zone/moment". Instead, you're focused on where you are in the corner, on your fears and doubts, and feelings. That controls you and then your focus is entirely off cornering and instead is on the part of the corner in front of you instead of the exit. You've programmed in a new route.

This describes my headspace perfectly.

[Thaeos]

Quite a common theme, which basically boils down to 'don't ride if ALL of your attention is not ON the ride!'

[Ender EnZed]

I pulled out and passed the van coming into a gentle right hander followed by a blind left hander further down the road. I wasn't focused fully on riding (instead still swearing at the other driver) and half way through I thought "shit, I'm not going to make this blind corner" which became "shit maybe I'd better stop here then" which became "shit well at least the ditch looks soft". This was followed by me drifting into the ditch (target fixation!) at probably 70+ ks an hour, going over the handlebars and sliding along in the muddy water for five or ten metres.

Couple of questions: Had you finished passing the van before you got to the corner, ie pulled in front of it back into your lane? And, which side of the road was the ditch on?

[jellywrestler]

A short time later I came across another van and, pissed as I was,

Simple really, don't drive pissed!!!

[Milts]

Couple of questions: Had you finished passing the van before you got to the corner, ie pulled in front of it back into your lane? And, which side of the road was the ditch on?

Ditch was on the left. I was back in front of the van (moving left) coming up to a gentle right hander. I could make it through the right hand curve easily but I panicked about the blind corner ahead. If I'd focused, I could probably have even just sat in the middle of the lane and hit the brakes and stopped (mostly) before the corner. Dunno if that'd have been a good move with the van behind me though (although I was probably pretty far in front of it by then).

[BikerDazz]

But let me ask you both a question: do you think in the same corner where you went "Oh crap - I'm not gonna make it!" and looked for somewhere to crash, that if someone who was a really excellent rider was on your bike he/she would've done the same? Or would he/she have made it? Would Valentino Rossi for example, have made it around that corner at the speed you were going, or maybe even faster? How much of it is the bike and/or the corner, and how much is the speed, and how much is the rider's brain?

Apart from corners where the entry speed is WAY too high, or there's shit all over the road or whatever, an awful lot of it is your head, your confidence, your experience. Knowing you can make it, the bike can get around, there's enough grip, you can brake and scrub off speed, you can hang off more, whatever. When you lack that experience/head space/confidence, you tend to focus on NOT making the corner, and forget all about riding through the corner and out the other side.
In some ways, it's not because of where your eyes are looking, but all about your focus. Your eyes look through the corner, and they're not looking at the corner, but as far ahead as you can see: the next corner, and the corner and bit of road after that. You've already scoped and set up for the current corner before you entered it, and filed it away in your brain. You're not going so fast you can't make it or scrub off a bit of speed if you have to, or alter you line to avoid the squashed possum.

If you're inexperienced, and/or your riding is crap (maybe just because you're tired, hungover, or whatever), then your rhythm is off, your focus is off, and you're not "in the groove/zone/moment". Instead, you're focused on where you are in the corner, on your fears and doubts, and feelings. That controls you and then your focus is entirely off cornering and instead is on the part of the corner in front of you instead of the exit. You've programmed in a new route.[/QUOTE]

Excellent points, bang on

[EnzoYug]

Bro you're real lucky that your mistake was one you could walk away from.
My brothers both required serious hospital time when they have come off.
Me? I'm pretty cautious, although the other day going down the onramp at Hampton Downs headed for Huntly, a nissan murano was in the slow lane, looked right at me, and then proceeded to not even move into the COMPLETELY empty fast lane. I was right next to him!! I had to brake and pull in behind him.
I saw the red rage you mention.

'Merge like a zip' dumbass.
If you must get angry, get angry at yourself for nearly running out of road. Also the Murano had right-of-way.

It's called a learner's license for a reason. Try learn something here, like the OP did - before you end up like your brothers.

[Toot Toot]

When I watch Air Crash Investigation on Sky, they always end up looking back at a string of events (errors) that lead up to the ultimate crash, it is never just one error a pilot made, it is usually a combo of weather, air traffic control, pilot, and aircraft faults.

So the same can be said for nearly all bike accidents. Mine included. Which was, tired from night shift prior, one beer, cold tyres, showing off = crash.

Good lesson, good attitude.

[Mudfart]

no, Im more upset I couldn't catch up to him, he was pulling away with me at 120kph, ringing it.
Perhaps my boosting testosterone levels are getting away from me. That means its working, MWAHAHAHAHA. (evil).