Reading the Road

[OTB]

I'm human, and like most humans I'm a creature of habit; I am comfortable with the familiar. Give me some nice roads and I'll ride those things 'till I've worn grooves in 'em, refining lines, experimenting with braking, turn-in points and late and early apexing 'till the cows come home.

And that's one kind of riding; the hobby type of riding. Nothing wrong with it. Teaches precision, ups the speeds possible, allows for experimentation. Just doesn't get you very far.

I've fallen into the habits: life is busy, I have limited riding time, the Bimota likes expensive, short-lived sticky tires; don't wanna waste any of it on taking the chance on an "inferior" experience, right?

Problem is, familiar can also be boring, even if the roads are nice.

So I've changed my riding habits. I've vowed to take the rest of the season to explore the unfamiliar byways and highways of the Blueridge. Time to dust off my much-unused Road-Reading Skilz.

Riding unfamiliar roads well and safely is a set of techniques and mindset all it's own.

Sport Rider has a great article by Nick E. for riding in groups (http://www.sportrider.com/ride/146_9...ing/index.html) and a lot of the tips there are helpful.

But even more so, when riding on unfamiliar roads, I keep my lines wider to give me the best view around blind turns; I keep my speeds down into the 60-70% level of the perceived radius, to give myself a safety factor in case that blind turn has a hidden decreasing radius component at the end. It's always easier to steer up with the throttle than to have to balance braking and turning if I go in too hot and get surprised or come up on debris ( or a stopped car, a fallen rider or a dusting of pea gravel...). A slow entrance will pay dividends in a smooth line out rather than juggling traction and running wide if I get surprised.

I also practice on looking up the road as far as I can in turns; the foliage, road signs and markers and terrain all give clues as to what's up ahead as far as the next series of bends. I play guessing games with myself as to what the following turn(s) will be like and what they will bring. I can't do that if I'm focused on 50 ft out from the front tire or the rider in front of me.

I also critique myself after a turn or series of turns, whenever the road straightens a bit and gives me a few seconds to rewind what I just did and judge how smoothly I did the turns, how well I picked the line, how well I read the terrain hints and why I made the bobbles I did.

Reading the road requires practice, just like any other set of riding skills.

Go discover a new road, and happy riding.