Re: To sleep or not to sleep.

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This situation is faced by most long distance riders at least once in their travels.

We have discussed various methods to overcome the drowsiness but as you mentioned, taking a power-nap has been the most helpful one.

If taking a nap is not possible, the following can be tried.
1. Having Tea / Coffee + smoke
2. Having a cola (thums-up preferred due to the caffeine)
3. Washing face (doesn't help too much though)
4. Having a sugary candy (like Mango bite or similar)

But all of the above only have temporary effect. The best way is to pull over at a dhaba and rest for a while. Even a 5-10 minute power-nap is enough to keep you fresh for another hour at the very least.

Pulling over at a populated place will also ensure safety though in some cases it might not be possible to find a dhaba or even a tree. In the worst of my 'drowsiness on the road' experiences, I had to nap directly under the 1PM Sun in full riding gear(including helmet and sunglasses) because I just couldn't ride further due to the extreme drowsiness.

Re: To sleep or not to sleep.

I have faced this just once. And I didnt have the option of taking a power nap (It is indeed the best option). So, I just took to science. "Adrenaline"...
I took a few corners at really nice speeds, as the heart began to pump up.. I decided to keep up the pace. (I had to cover only 74kms to reach home).. That worked for me.

Though that is not the sensible thing to do..

Re: To sleep or not to sleep.

almost everybody of us has encountered this in our life.
had a new year party till wee hours of morning & cud not sleep more than 2 hours in the morning before starting off for home.
enroute from goa to home [mumbai,] after karhad, started feeling fatigue & drowsiness.
pulled over @ a roadside tapri, had chilled soda to freshen-up - worked out to take away the drowsiness a bit.
some 40kms further again felt my eyelids getting too heavy to manage.
pulled over... took a bio-break... resumed the ride...
started singing out loud [read shouting] to self inside the helmet - that kept me awake for another 60km odd...
after satara, crossed a toll & i almost bumped into one of the cars parked outside a police checkpost!
decided that this was it & i just had to take a nap.
pulled over under a tree, unfolded a set of spare newspapers that i always carry w/ me on long tours > locked the helmet to the bike > riding gear & luggage served as the pillow & off i slept like a street side dawg for good 4 hours.
it was neigh sundown when i woke up.
checked the luggage / bike / wallet / etc. - all was in place & i was as fresh as a flower...
resumed the ride & reached home pronto.
my learnings.., if u r sleepy... bite the bulllet... pullover @ a gas station or a dhaba & just sleep... 30~45 mins of nap sets u up good for atleast 2~3 hours of ride ahead.

Re: To sleep or not to sleep.

This happened to me once when I was riding to my college, though its just a short 17km ride, I felt a little sleepy as I couldn't sleep well the other night. But since the distance to cover was small I just hung on to it to reach College where I slept through the first 1~2 hours in class But if you have to cover a long distance and you are feeling drowsy its best to pull over and have a short nap and then continue. That's what I would do.

Re: To sleep or not to sleep.

During our long journeys in my Linea, as soon as I started yawning twice, I used to stop and take a power nap for 30 to 45 minutes, while my wife used to be awake. I don't wash my face, don't show my face outside the window to get fresh air, don't take coffee/tea, etc.

But, during my recent Chennai to Bangalore solo ride, it's different. I left Chennai on 17 May 2013 at 12:45 pm under the scorching sun. I thought I would take my first break at Vellore, 140 km. But, after riding for 60 km or so, I started feeling drowsy, perhaps, due to heat. Not to risk sun stroke, I turned from the highway and parked my Blue Bird under a tree by the side of a deserted village road. I laid down flat on a concrete platform and slept for about 10 minutes or so. There was nobody to take care of my Blue Bird and my belongings. When I woke up, I was totally fresh, notwithstanding the severe heat and continued my journey. But, I reached Hotel Saravana Bhavan, Vellore after 3 breaks!

Re: To sleep or not to sleep.

he he... cig. smoking is injurious to health...

yes singing out loud does help to some extent.

sleeping under tree.... hmmnn... somebody may come and take the bike keys from your pocket and next thing you know when you wake up is .... looking for a police station...


tea/coffee/cig/thumbs-up/washing the face.. al works to some extent.

Re: To sleep or not to sleep.

Well even when you are sleeping you should be cautious, I usually get awakened the moment someone startles me. Just keep your belongings securely and take a short nap, you are not going to sleep for 6 or 7 hrs at a stretch, just doze off for 30/45 mins it should give you enough rest to ride another hour or atleast till you find a safe place to rest.

Re: To sleep or not to sleep.

So I was riding at night around 12:30 and I had been riding since 3:30 the previous morning. I found that opening the helmet visor helped. Why? 1) The wind noise increases drastically when I am riding above 80 kmph with the visor open. 2) It was night and the cold air was stinging my eyes so helped keep the drowsiness at bay. And 3) The bugs were hitting my face adding in another layer of external stimuli to keep my brain occupied.

Even with this I barely made about 50 kms. Lucky for me I reached home soon after that, otherwise a sleep under a tree would have been inevitable.

Don't know whether you all have seen this video, but it had gone pretty viral some time back. This woman in Russia went to sleep on her scooter and see what happened..! It is fortunate that the truck driver swerved to avoid her and she side-swiped. Even then its a miracle that she survived without any serious injury.

Re: To sleep or not to sleep.

Sleep or get hurt like this

Re: To sleep or not to sleep.

Well 30-45 minutes of napping is not something ideal. If you remember Viru Sahastrabudhe from the the movie 3 Idiots, he used to take a 7.5 minute power-nap everyday. Thats actually a very optimized nap length, short enough so as to not put you into deep sleep but long enough to make you feel much fresher than before. 20 minutes is the max, any longer and you will be entering deep sleep territory which means either you won't wake up at all(for the next few hours) OR wake up in a zombie-like state, even more sleep deprived than before.

How I figured these out?

During my engineering, we used to do a lot of all-nighters (of the non naughty kind) before the exams. Sleep deprivation is a major hazard when studying or you could end up blank as soon as you get the answer-sheet in your hand. Me and my hostel roomies had experimented with all kinds of nap lengths ranging from 2 minutes to 1 hour. The 1 hour nap invariably meant that the guy will only be getting up the following morning (i.e. he's practically screwed). If he does manage to get up, he will probably be going back to sleep in about 15 minutes . The 2/3 minute nap would keep us fresh for only for 20-30 minutes. So we had compromised with a 10-15 minute nap as a par nap. Any longer and we were only inviting trouble.

Anyways, 30-45 minute naps in the open can easily become a safety hazard. Stick to shorter, more optimized naps. They are better in most respects.

P.S.: I had once taken a 10 minute nap in the middle of a 3 hour exam (too drowsy to write). I passed the exam .

[MENTION=26407]aargee[/MENTION] is that yours?

Re: To sleep or not to sleep.

A power nap is the best option. Also one can try something high in Caffeine or an energy drink like redbull. But there will be some stage where nothing will work and you have to stop and take adequate rest.

Re: To sleep or not to sleep.

I don't recommend sleeping under shed or a tree near the highway, you might get robbed or hell, even killed depending on where you are at that moment. Some might even confuse you for a drunk and annoy the crap out of you, especially kids, I hate to admit, but I seem to have a strong hatred for kids, especially the annoying ones Just plan your trip properly and this should not be a problem. I used to deliver newspaper early in the morning and I suffer from insomnia so sometimes I get a feeling which is weird, everything turns black for a moment and after that everything is normal. But by properly planning the route and trip I was able to avoid accidents. Well, I had accidents twice but not due to being sleepy. You should top by a dhaba or a restaurant and have a drink or something and a short nap if possible.

Re: To sleep or not to sleep.

It happened with one of my co-riders when we were retutning from Kufri.
We had started from Chandigarh at 0400hrs covering Dharampur, Solan, Shimla, Kufri, Chail, etc..
This guy started feeling drowsy from Kufri. We had tea, power nap of 15mins and a little stretching. Kept him in the middle of the group while riding.

But he literally went asleep on the bike while riding!!! Luckily, we honked our horns and he woke up, and saved himself from going down the valley!!!!!

Oh man! That tells me, if you are feeling sleepy and are a person who has less control over it, STOP. No tea and nothing can help you.
Check yourself, your stamina and control over sleep then plan a trip. And better ride in a group on long tours.

Happy and safe riding.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using xBhp Connect mobile app

Re: To sleep or not to sleep.

No never I never ride when I am feeling sleepy, Its so reasly, even nothing works in my case tea-coffee or power nap, when you feel sleepy just don't ride until you feel good....