Quote:
Originally Posted by ally99
Yes. This was one of the main causes of my crash at Little Tally. I skipped my apex reference point which made me turn in too early. I lost myself on the track and before I knew it, I had run too wide and was leaned on rumbles...the violent, gator kind. Just ask my poor brand new scorpion-exo 500 how violent those strips are! 
Since then, I've learned I look at my reference point until I know my bike is going straight for it. At the point when I know my bike is heading straight for that spot, I shift my gaze to the next point I want my bike to hit, keeping the current turn-in point in my peripheral. Hope that makes sense. I haven't had my coffee yet this morning. lol! |
Excellent, look at your RP until you know your bike is going straight for it. When you know you will get to that spot, shift your gaze and so on. The more you practice this, the more fluid it gets- then you get faster and you have to change your RP's again
hehehe it's always changing!
Quote:
Originally Posted by alex.s
so here is a question that has been puzzling me... where are you looking during blind corners where you cant see the apex or exit? i find my self looking at where i think the apex is, even though i cant see it... seems like a waste of my vision. what do you think?
|
Ok, well on blind turns or turns you can't see the apex you still want to have RP's to line you up with where you want to be. So, if you can't see the apex or exit, might you be able to see something in the distance that would line you up with the apex? A tree, a pole, a sign, a skid mark on the track? If you line yourself up with this then you KNOW you will be on the right line and as soon as you can see the apex or the exit you can look to your next point.
If it is a double apex or a long sweeping turn then you might need to have a few RP's that lead to the apex. Basically you always want to have enough RP's to ensure that you have a good solid and predictable line that can be repeated over and over again with precision. Does that help?
Quote:
Originally Posted by csmith12
Thanks again Misty for your insight and confirmation that I am at least on the right track with my thoughts. Based on all the comments here and my findings on a ride with these in mind, I can assert the following;
You can unnecessarily look to far ahead
Take a visual snapshot of the road early & quickly enough to leave you time to adjust entry speed and get back to the upcoming task which is cornering
Sometimes you can pick a bad marker and your new marker may not feel as good at first but it gets better after repetition
You can linger on a marker for to long
When your unsure it's best to just slow down to increase your margin of error
What did I really learn?
How to pick better reference points and how to better control visual focus. Basically there isn't a need to put a lot of visual or mental focus on what is beyond the corner aside of your stopping distance. It also helped with entry speed. What is farther in the distance than that, a quick visual snapshot will do. Removing all that extra visual input at corner entry allows me to get back to cornering sooner, also getting rid of the "rushed" entry feeling.
|
Sounds awesome! Well done
Finding and using good RP's is a really important skill and one that is constantly changing and evolving. You may have an awesome set of RP's for a given speed but then you start going faster so they need to be adjusted, or the weather changes and they need to be adjusted, or someone is in your way so they need to be adjusted. RP's are a starting point and they evolve as your riding changes and improves.
