We all know about target fixation and have seen plenty of you tube videos of hapless souls staring down the immovable object they are about to clobber. However, I was thinking that there may be another type of target fixation that may be just as insidious. Let's call it Mental Target Fixation or MTF.
MTF is that voice in your head that brings up mental "targets" that keep you focused on the wrong thing while riding. For example, you know that you have trouble leaning around right hand corners and every time you come up to one you get a little freaked out. Your mind fixates on the thing that scares you well before the turn and sharpens your focus to the point where you think of nothing else. Your MTF has started the ball rolling toward full blown target fixation where you stare down that right turn instead of keeping your head up and riding your motorcycle.
I think MTF is one of the reasons that riding a motorcycle is most dangerous for new riders and riders that think they have it all figured out (that 36 month phase where accidents come at a higher rate). When you are just learning there is way to much going on in your mind just trying to ride the bike and work the controls properly. Down the road a couple of years, when you think you have it all figured out, you start to let your mind wander away from the task at hand.
Besides scary right turns and newbie skills, MTF can also arise from a bad day at the office, that final exam you have at school tomorrow, or other things that plague your mind. Clearing your mind of these mental targets before you ride is important. If you cannot, one day, you will be focusing at a mental target and will not see the brake lights of the car in front of you or left turner moving into your path. Some days it might be better to drive your car instead of throwing a leg over your bike.
I make it a habit of getting rid of MTF when I suit up. This act becomes a ritual of sorts. When I throw on boots, pants and jacket in the house my mind is starting to get in sync with the process of riding my bike. Outside I lay out my gloves and helmet on saddle in the same location every time. I put my ear plugs in and listen to the outside noises go mute. I slip on my helmet then gloves and focus as I thread the straps of my helmet through the D rings. The instant I shut my visor, my thought process becomes clear. That is the key instant where, for me, any MTF gets pushed out of my head and my business becomes riding my motorcycle.
I think that getting rid of Mental Target Fixation and riding with a wider mental picture can have benefits other than keeping you safe and off the asphalt. I think that getting rid of this mental trap can lead to a Zen like riding experience where the bike disappears beneath you, your mind becomes very clear, and the ride slows down even when you are hustling down a canyon full of twisties
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Get rid of mental and visual target fixation and your ride will become safer and dare I say it, a great experience.
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