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Old July 14th, 2018, 05:45 PM   #45
Mechanikrazy
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Name: Al
Location: Orange County, CA
Join Date: Dec 2015

Motorcycle(s): Thruxton R, R6 450 triple, EX300 (sold)

Posts: 263
Quote:
Originally Posted by Misti View Post
Hahaha, I love your description of what happens when you approach a rider. The IDEA of looking where you want to go as if you had clear track is ok but when you have a rider in the way of the line you would take if you had a clear track then you get thrown out of whack.

What we teach at the California Superbike School is to try and WIDEN your vision. What usually happens for riders when they approach a slower person on track is that they look at the rider and their vision narrows. A narrow field of vision will not only cause you to target fixate on the rider and follow them but it will also distort your sense of speed and perception. So widening your vision allows you to still keep track of the rider you want to pass with your peripheral vision but also see the available space around them. Without allowing your vision to narrow, your sense of speed is better and you can then judge how much time you have better then if you have a narrow field of view.

Does that make sense? How do you think you could practice widening your vision and passing safely?
It makes sense, and I'm still trying to rewire my brain to force out bad habits.

In terms of practice to remind myself about wideview, I ride with the peripheral vision stars from the WVLS drill still. Heck, I even taped muted blue painters tape squares on my visor last year for a CCS race. I thought gold stars might draw attention at Tech. Haha.

In terms of the rider in front situation, I am hoping that practicing looking ahead even farther down the road when I have certainty of the turn in area instead of an exact point will help with looking through the rider. By moving the vision farther ahead on the road, I'm also providing a larger peripheral field that the other rider can be in, to better gauge differences in speed.

Is that headed towards the preferred thought process?

Maybe I'm incorrect in my self-assessment, but I also feel like part of my issue is just needing more seat time experience with gauging closure rate with peripheral vision.

At trackdays, even after following and trying to set up passes, I usually leave large gaps on entry and mid-corner as I'm concerned about the potential of the gap closing up real quick on some riders. When I have the "pass corner" chosen, I try to see how the situation looks when I get on the gas post entry. What this can result in though is that I end up with more ground to cover as the door is opening, and not committing to an underneath drive as I get nervous about the rider coming back across and pinching me off by the time I draw alongside for a right/left or v.v. situation. The extra ground can also lead to the bad habit of second guessing as we're headed towards the next door closing moment for the following corner.

I'm going to try and squeeze in another CSS day this year, maybe September at Thunderhill, to see if I can make more progress.
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