Old Fox

I somehow ‘knew’ it!

Ever felt the thrill of somehow already knowing who is behind the door before opening it when the doorbell rings? Ever picked up the phone to call someone and the same person calls you up at that very moment? That’s, as is said, intuition at work. The ‘intuitive me’ has always existed within each one of us. But the predominance and preponderance of logic as the panacea to all analytical and situational problems has perforce made culture look at intuition with doubt. Intuition is not ‘logical’, and being ‘non-repeatable’ at will, not ‘scientific’ either. But sadly, the supremacy of logic closes the door to a vast arena of untapped mental abilities that could make life simpler and amazingly conflict-free not just for the everyday motorcyclist but for mankind in general.

For a humble motorcyclist, denying intuition a role in riding is akin to riding one eyed and one handed when you’ve got two of both. To rise above the mere mechanicals of riding, the rider must master the basic skills with such proficiency that they become an unconscious part of his nature. He needs to get so used to them that he completely forgets to do them with ‘conscious’ thought. Thus leaving the cognizant mind free to assess the ‘here and now’ and allow the eyes and the brain to see, analyze, decide and command the ‘learned’ body to implement the decisions in a seamless progression. To those familiar with it, Pirsig has harped about it both in ‘Zen…’ and ‘Lila’. And at another extreme from our mythos, the Bhagwat Gita waxes eloquent about being in the ‘present’, in the ‘here and now’ to really know what needs to be done. This unerring focus on the ‘present situation’ primes the mind for supra-logical leaps and loud warning klaxons sound within the rider’s mind prompting him to brake hard for the car ahead that makes a last-moment leap across two lanes for a side-street, without any perceivable or ‘logical’ warning.


An intuitive grasp of the situation just doesn’t come out of the blue. It’s built on a preamble of skills, past experiences and the single-minded focus of the mind on the job at hand. And true, one couldn’t put into words even a tiny fraction of what all is analyzed and processed within a flash and a decision made ready for action.

A minor digression is needed here as intuitive riding usually is an amalgam of intuition, situational awareness and our acquired behavior pattern. There was the example of an incident described by an Australian auto-scribe [put up by Sunny as an ‘Article’ titled ‘Run’ bxc (Before xBhp Crash)] who was riding along on a country road at a crisp but not overly fast pace and was overtaken rather dangerously by another rider who probably interpreted his pace as a challenge to go faster than. The incident in ‘Run’ is almost universal, confined not just to motorcycling. The decision made by the rider to ‘race’ with the author appears more as the proverbial “Pavlovian’ response to a supposed challenge than a deliberate choice. But there is a hidden element of unconscious choice lurking in the background. An example is warranted here. Someone punches me without my intentional provocation. And I hit back. It seems the most natural thing to do. But my decision to hit was actually a choice out of at least five possible responses.

1. I could have ignored the punch and walked away.

2. I could have stabbed him to death.

3. I could have started crying.

4. I could have tried to reason with him.

5. I could have punched him back.


My upbringing and experience has given me a pre-determined choice mechanism, highliting one and blanking out the remaining four from my awareness. Someone hits you without apparent provocation from your end, hit back. These short cuts are supposed to make life easier. You don’t have to think and decide. The decision is already there. Just implement it. In ‘Run’, the challenge is a ‘punch’ in the face of the man’s riding ability and he ‘hits’ back by showing he is quicker and better on the bike than the ‘provocateur’. The fact that this unnecessary hit-back could have endangered both his and others’ lives does not show up even as a tiny speck on his limited mental horizon.

The urge to ‘race’ is not generic but in a generally competitive world where ‘win-loose’ is ubiquitous, reacting aggressively to a perceived trigger becomes more of a norm. And so, constantly re-evaluating those robotic behavioral ‘short-cuts’ is a paramount need. Check that automatic urge to compete. See if you really need to react the way you ‘want’ to. Difficult, especially in the heat of the moment, but as essential as good eyesight and good riding skills. And as for intuition, hone it as a survivor’s tool and make it your enduring pillion. It’s nothing short of a ‘beyond visual perception’ radar on-board your bike.

Ride long and safe…

Old Fox

Read this on Hard Torque

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realredice

Again spot on Old Fox... almost each one of us here would've experience what you have described in the article more than once in our lives... Its only through experience, or let me say maturity, that such instincts can be overcome... sometimes through instinct you push the throttle hard to overtake someone who just got past you... after the time you decide to push hard and before you pass the person in front you realize that you need to curb your instincts and you let go off the throttle... eventually you learn to ignore such instincts...

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greyanaroth

Not to say anything against anyone here in particular, but on the road, you'll invariably meet a class of bikers, who'll ALWAYS look at your biking as a challenge to better you.

I'm riding a ZMA on the road, a bike perceived by many in this country as a "fast, performance bike". It's not, not really anyway. It's fun, but in no way is it "fast".

When on the road, ALWAYS, people with more balls, less sense and lesser displacements, will without fail always see my bike, or in fact, any ZMA, as an invitation to race. They'll suddenly cross you without provocation at a blistering speed, engine cranked to the max, and sparing a few inches from me. Thankfully for me, I NEVER give in to these urges. Primarily for 3 reasons -

1. I don't believe in street racing
2. It's dangerous
3. I'm not that good a rider!

The guy who passed me, out of sheer balls, skill, or lack of personal safety, will cream me in heavy traffic. I recognize that and respectfully bow out of such invitations. It's always been the logical thing for me to do.

I might also attribute this "phattoo" attitude with my relative inexperience, but at the same time, I'd much rather not be scraping parts off the road from my bike and my riding gear!

That said, I do ride like a maniac at times, just not with racing as a primary objective. If someone takes the bait, I just let him win and puff up his chest in pride. Ultimately, he's the dude who'll someday be sitting in a stretcher wondering how the hell he crashed despite being the "Lord Of The Streets"

End of rant!

KwokFist

Good write up there oldfox and very well said indeed!

EL LOCO DIABLO

I think i need to get back to school and do english once more, i don't understand half the words you just said, though i get a vague feeling that you are telling us with reference to some previous thread that we are not supposed to.................ummm road race?

EDIT: And.............umm great article, if i was able to keep up with the language i probably would've meant it too

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Xenologik

again an excellent article Sundeep Sir !

well these buried instincts arise from our backgrounds
my father likes to cruise his car at pretty high speeds on the highway, but he doesnt drive rash, I have exactly the same characteristics. He checks all the security measures before going on a ride, i do the same (Without being told to that is)
now i dont even realise that i've actually taken my helmet out for every single ride.

^these intuitions are good


although i must admit i've fallen to this racing urge twice when another cbz-x passed me in a rather unfriendly manner ( i had to brake a lot to avoid , cause he cut into my line) and then i royally screwed him by going in front of him and braking hard. it did give that momentary satisfaction of "payback" but later i realized i had been a total ass for doing something like that.

slight OT

yes, in tumkur you'll always have one or the other "challenger" wanting to let the horses loose and rip the streets.

i avoid mainly because i immediately think:

- Seen some nasty falls of others (and they make me shudder whenever i see them)
- Im no racerboy
- I consider what might the old bloke on his scooter react (panic, fall , get injured) like if i suddenly cut across him in busy traffic.

greyanaroth

Precisely! Just. Doesn't. Make. Sense.

But then again, neither does swinging your leg over something thats just begging to fall

betaal

Good write up Old Fox.

ken cool

Everybody out here seems to be a honest-to-goodness rider. Well I am not. I admit I have often fallen prey to provocation, given in, raced, beaten and got beaten. And it proves only one thing. That I have been irresponsible.

Good article, well penned OF, in your usual inimitable language flowing forth. Enjoyed reading it. From where you stand, you give us a decent perspective and make us take a hard look at ourselves and our ways of being. For those who care to read and then search ofcourse.

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