Subconscious

[Maha]

That part of the brain that we call on at times without knowing it.

Watching a programme last night about F1 drivers and their subconscious skills/thoughts that get them through corners etc, got me thinking...

Its about the 'note' of my bike during cornering that tells me its going ok...
Hard to explain, but, Subconsciously, I am listening to the engine note before/during and after the corner. Never really thought about that until last night.

Theres is so much going on during the action of cornering...body position/eyesight/lines/engine note/gearing/entering/exiting etc, and thats just one corner!

All this is done and completed within seconds and at times, before you know it, you are at the next corner. I rely on the engine note (subconsciously) to let me know that I have choosen the right gear and speed to get me through the corner without fault.

Cheers Brain, I love you.

[Slyer]

We'd be screwed without our subconscious.
Far too many things for our conscious mind to be able to do at once, breathe, pump blood, steer etc.

[Blackshear]

My eyes do the lookin, my hands gauge and correct, body takes up the slack/errors during cornering...
*Shrugs* teamwork brah, teamwork. Just happens.
But inreference to your one honed, er, 'part', I'd have to say the vibrations going through the bike. Rev's, what the tyres are doing... I DUNNO ALRIGHT, LEAVE ME ALONE!

Also, my asscheeks tighten, my balls receed and my heart pounds when shit hits the fan

[klingon]

Yeah, subconscious is great, isn't it?! Never ceases to amaze me.

You really only become aware of it when you start to mess it up. When your subconscious is doing a perfectly good job of something then your conscious brain starts wanting a bit of the action and starts "thinking" at an inappropriate moment. Like mid-corner. Best to just disengage it again and let your subconscious stay in charge.

[Maha]

My eyes do the lookin, my hands gauge and correct, body takes up the slack/errors during cornering...
*Shrugs* teamwork brah, teamwork. Just happens.
But inreference to your one honed, er, 'part', I'd have to say the vibrations going through the bike. Rev's, what the tyres are doing... I DUNNO ALRIGHT, LEAVE ME ALONE!

Also, my asscheeks tighten, my balls receed and my heart pounds when shit hits the fan

Vibrations/revs ets come by way of what the engine is doing yes?
Hence the 'engine note'....when this is correct, we know exactly where we are with the bike, all happens in a split second. Without thinking.

Riding 'balls to the wall' is all well in good (and this is not about how to to ride) but your actions are controlled by the top three inches, not the lower 3-4-5-6 inches.

[Maha]

We'd be screwed without our subconscious.
Far too many things for our conscious mind to be able to do at once, breathe, pump blood, steer etc.

At speeds over 350kph, the brain cant keep up with what you see in front of you (not that 350 plus will effect any of us on the road) thats when the subconscious part steps in, and sometimes fails at those speeds. Accidents happen on the track at times.

But for your everyday/weekend ride, if you ride a particular road regularly, that little part at the bottom rear of your brain certainly helps, familiarity?? I guess in part. I for one need to hear my bike.

[Stirts]

Its about the 'note' of my bike during cornering that tells me its going ok...
Hard to explain, but, Subconsciously, I am listening to the engine note before/during and after the corner. Never really thought about that until last night.

How funny, and I never realised this until reading this post but if I forget to wear my earplugs my riding is effected dramatically. Now I know why

your actions are controlled by the top three inches, not the lower 3-4-5-6 inches.

And I thought it was the other way around

[Maha]

I guess everyone has their 'this corner at in 3rd at 110' going on when its posted at 55-65 or whatever?
Theres a long straight up this way with a 45 posted corner at the end of it. Personally, I take it slower than what I normally would because its a bastard and can catch you out. Not all posted 45 corners are the same it seems (camber etc) I have seen much quicker riders brake before it and brake part way through it because it tightens up. Mind games on a bike?
You know what you are comfortable with going into any speed posted corner because its in your subconscious.

There was one corner a couple of years ago, posted 25 that I almost had to use my indicator....

[Burtha]

I can't yet apply it to a decent bike yet (as I have yet to get one) but when in me mini coop, I wind down the windows and do exactly the same thing as I don't drive slow and pref sideways.
Its all in the feel and in the 'knowing' ... I can relate, and am looking forward to getting that on a REAL bike sometime soon!

[GSXR Trace]

I don't think this is one of those things i should admit, but... does anyone else every now and then realise they have been riding and not paying attention and wonder how the hell they got to their destination at times? Very rarely i get that feeling when riding or driving... its a little unsettling, but i put that down to subconscious abilities as well!

[Slyer]

I don't think this is one of those things i should admit, but... does anyone else every now and then realise they have been riding and not paying attention and wonder how the hell they got to their destination at times? Very rarely i get that feeling when riding or driving... its a little unsettling, but i put that down to subconscious abilities as well!

All of the time.

[Edbear]

Scientists tell us the human brain is capable of around 100 trillion calculations per second - http://www.wired.com/techbiz/it/news/2002/11/56459

And they reckon machines will match human capabilities by 2020.

http://www.transhumanist.com/volume1/moravec.htm

Anyway, without meaning to take the subject off topic, we couldn't ride or even walk without the subconcious hard at work.

Makes sightseeing much more fun when you don't have to concetrate on the basics too much...

[varminter]

My brain is very useful, hardly go anywhere without it. Not always switched on though

[Motu]

Watching a programme last night about F1 drivers and their subconscious skills/thoughts that get them through corners etc, got me thinking...

Did you catch the accent of the scientist dude? - he didn't have one....so I think he might have been a Kiwi.

He was talking about storing experiences in the cerebellum for instant retrieval by the subconscious mind.Kenny Roberts was talking about this decades ago,for his Superbike school.He called it storing packages on a wall - each package held the skills required to deal with a particular situation,when you were in that situation,you grabbed the package and opened it.Although I like Keith Code,Kenny Roberts comes first for me and doesn't have any fancy theories,just riding facts - like, you'll never lose the front if you are on the gas.

He also says - ''You only have so much storage space in your brain at a top priority level.Important stuff always gets remembered,and the rest drops to low priority.At every race,you learn and slot different things into different levels.When you solve an important problem,it drops to low priority,and this process opens a slot at the top priority level for a new problem.Some things always stay at that top level.Turn one at Daytona,for example,is always on the list.''

That was in a 1989 Cycle magazine article. KR was working on this stuff a long time ago.

[frogamic]

I don't think this is one of those things i should admit, but... does anyone else every now and then realise they have been riding and not paying attention and wonder how the hell they got to their destination at times? Very rarely i get that feeling when riding or driving... its a little unsettling, but i put that down to subconscious abilities as well!

I do this too, it's rather disturbing, especially at lights, when I go through them and then have no idea if they were green or not... I always check in my mirrors to see if the person behind me went through and they always have, so yay for the subconscious!