WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE

When riding, where are you looking? What do you see when you look down the road?

It is a pretty serious question.

You go where you look.

Shira seems to see to infinity. I watch my wife go through tight turns left, right, right, left… with the grace of God.

Me, not so much. I am not bitter about this. I got it… she is far faster than me and I have my place in this world. But I can write. Many cannot. So now you have to deal with me and my drivel.

Gawd…. I adjust her chain and still change her oil. Husbandry duties and all that – you know what that is all about ‘old man.’ Have any of you men realized your women are better than you. They are much better than you… us. Frack me!

But, let’s talk about vision. I have better vision than a space shuttle pilot. Shira cannot see squat without her specs….

Looking up. Looking forward can make or break your ride. We have talked about what we call The Flow.

Do you want some of this? I think you would. This is an easy thing. A few years back I was following the redhead through Walpack Valley, one of the most remote places in New Jersey, and a dozen deer crossed her path. She brilliantly piloted the Suzuki, threading her bike in and around the deer that were scattering across the rural road.

Awesome…

But how could we get by this?

She was in the Flow. THE FLOW possibly can be the weapon against unforeseen and terrible mishaps.

Backroads, and especially Welcome to the Jungle, is here to help us be the best riders we can be. Follow us. We can all get better… I certainly need constant betterment.

Especially at this time of year. Most of us are not riding nearly as much as the warmer months and riding is a perishable skill.

So, although some of us are now wintered for a bit I thought perhaps I would try to pick up some tips from Ben Collins. Ben is one of the greatest car drivers on the planet. All those cool James Bond stunts? Ben. That crazy 2017 Range Rover flying down the ski slope? Ben. Top Gear… The Stig? Ben Collins, so picking a bit off his superb book “How to Drive” seems like a good thing.

Improving your car driving helps your motorcycle riding, and Ben’s book has some serious thoughts and quotes about vision from some of the very best.

“If you are in a good state, psychologically speaking, your sensitivity of vision is so much greater, so much more accurate, it makes everything else much more natural and easy.”

Ayrton Senna – 3-Time Formula One Champion. 

Taking the vision thought a bit further they actually talk about juggling to improve your peripheral eye acuity. Yikes, I bought soft juggling balls years back and they have gathered dust since. Maybe I’ll see if Spenser hasn’t hidden them somewhere.

And, as we have talked about numerous times, Ben brings up the fighter pilot. The need, at that speed, to pick up the “Big Picture” and not get trapped by having your attention drawn into things that should not be running into your attention and focus. Fighter pilots call it “Target Fixation.” Collins talks about how, on numerous occasions, pilots have followed their own bombs into the ground, or got caught up taking the Iceman’s advice by literally following the wingman into the ground during formation flying.

Ben Collins' hope is that we all begin to look at the bigger picture when we drive, we hope that we all do that when we ride.

Take the time to get your mind right when you get going for a ride.

During the winter, when in the car, try driving like you are riding the bike.

It will keep you a bit sharper and make for a better spring for us all.