Exercises to increase your focus

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Lukich

Well-known member
Hello.

I recently started commuting from SF to Mountain View once a week. I spend a bit of time on 280 and then get onto Skyline and then polish it off with a Page Mill Road. It's an amazing route. However, I have noticed one thing in my riding, especially on Page Mill Road. There are a number of places on that road where several sharp turns are chained together and sometimes, after two or three turns my focus starts to drift.

Do you have any tips on how to quickly reengage your focus on demand? Some mnemonic device perhaps?

Thank you!
Luka
 
afm199

afm199

Well-known member
Sure. Get you head up and eyes up and look where you want to go. Scan the road for possible problems. Look at the inside and outside, look at where you are going to turn in, brake, the closest you will come to the inside of the turn and outside of the road. Look look look.
 
L

Lukich

Well-known member
Well, that's the thing. I keep looking and I am pretty engaged with the road, trying to keep a good form and do things the right way. But sometimes you enter a turn in the zone. You are properly set up, your form is right and you are doing it just the way it's meant to be done. And sometimes you are a bit sloppy, because your mind is not in it 100%. That's what I'm looking after, suggestions on how to quickly bring your full attention into this very moment, into the zone. There are millions of books on the subject, but I thought asking fellow riders would yield more useful results.
 
afm199

afm199

Well-known member
Lukich said:
Well, that's the thing. I keep looking and I am pretty engaged with the road, trying to keep a good form and do things the right way. But sometimes you enter a turn in the zone. You are properly set up, your form is right and you are doing it just the way it's meant to be done. And sometimes you are a bit sloppy, because your mind is not in it 100%. That's what I'm looking after, suggestions on how to quickly bring your full attention into this very moment, into the zone. There are millions of books on the subject, but I thought asking fellow riders would yield more useful results.
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I'm not sure what you mean. Properly set up? Form is just right? Doing it just the way it's meant to be done? Your mind is not 100%, and sloppily.

How about worrying more about what's coming and less about how you look?
 
L

Lukich

Well-known member
I couldn't care less about how I look. When I say properly set up and the form is just right I refer to the things we are taught on how to make a turn more efficient.
 
stangmx13

stangmx13

not Stan
for me, the best turns happen when the form is largely accomplished with muscle memory. i generally feel sloppy and poorly execute when i have to actively think about the smaller techniques. my conscious focus is saved for decisions like when to transition from brake to throttle, decisions on what line to take for the next corner, or anything unexpected. IMO, the only way to build muscle memory is to practice. mental drills might speed up the process, but u are still practicing.

im def interested to hear more POVs about focus and riding.
 
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afm199

afm199

Well-known member
Lukich said:
I couldn't care less about how I look. When I say properly set up and the form is just right I refer to the things we are taught on how to make a turn more efficient.
Click to expand...

Then think of it like this: There is a car around the next corner in the wrong lane and the driver wants to kill you. That's not too far from the truth.

The street is not the track and the track is not the street. Riding in the hills is where your discipline needs to be on survival as much as possible. If you're so comfortable on the bike, your body position is so good, your lines are well thought, your technique is so accomplished that your get bored, then you are focusing on the wrong thing.
 
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J

jaybocc2

o lento
Speak out loud to yourself.

I take a deep breath and say out loud in my helmet. "focus, relax, focus, relax"
 
Smash Allen

Smash Allen

Banned
OODA - loop

Observe, orient, decide, act. Then loop it. That's what fighter pilots do to stay focused, it's what Ken Hill teaches some of the fastest riders in the world, and it's what I'm constantly muttering to myself under my breath.
 
S

self_moto

Well-known member
Pking

Pking

Humble Rider
Lukich said:
Hello.

...on Page Mill Road. There are a number of places on that road where several sharp turns are chained together and sometimes, after two or three turns my focus starts to drift.
Click to expand...

Not trying to be sarcastic but personally if I'm on a road like this, my mind would be auto 100% everytime. It's called SURVIVAL MODE.:thumbup

But then again, maybe you've ridden on it so many times it just doesn't have that "umph" anymore.
 
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Siris

Siris

Rookie
Smash Allen said:
OODA - loop

Observe, orient, decide, act. Then loop it. That's what fighter pilots do to stay focused, it's what Ken Hill teaches some of the fastest riders in the world, and it's what I'm constantly muttering to myself under my breath.
Click to expand...

CMSF handbook uses something similar. SIPDE (scan, identify, predict, decide, and execute). California Motorcycle Handbook has something even simpler: Search, Evaluate, and Execute (SEE). Easier to remember.
 
S

self_moto

Well-known member
Siris said:
CMSF handbook uses something similar. SIPDE (scan, identify, predict, decide, and execute). California Motorcycle Handbook has something even simpler: Search, Evaluate, and Execute (SEE). Easier to remember.
Click to expand...

yep, but I think those are "subset" of OODA loop, OODA loop is more general thing I would say and might be applied pretty much in every situation (non motorcycle riding related, as well).

I feel like having general knowledge will be beneficial in long run, because you can apply OODA on different elements of riding: like vision, braking, throttle control, body position. But hey, I'm just a noob (riding less than a year) and totally could be wrong about it :)
 
Siris

Siris

Rookie
What also helps me is asking the question "what if" repeatedly as I am riding, trying to predict what people (and animals) may do, and how I would react to it. The question forces one to go through the process above. Work in progress though, as my mind also tends to wander off.
 
NSR500

NSR500

すけべ
Smash Allen said:
OODA - loop

Observe, orient, decide, act. Then loop it. That's what fighter pilots do to stay focused, it's what Ken Hill teaches some of the fastest riders in the world, and it's what I'm constantly muttering to myself under my breath.
Click to expand...

+1 to this.

From sports, driving, riding, etc... I use the OODA loop to help stay engaged.
 
DataDan

DataDan

Mama says he's bona fide
If I understand correctly, you're trying to overcome a tendency to lose visual focus in a series of turns. You need to develop good visual habits. Do it the right way over and over and over again, and soon enough you won't have to think about it. It will just happen.

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Your eyes lead you through a turn step by step, always ahead of the motorcycle:
  1. Approach. Find the spot where you will make your initial countersteering input.

  2. Turn-in. Before you steer, advance your eyes to the turn apex, your closest approach to the inside of the turn. By looking where you want to go, you'll be able to steer more accurately.

  3. Apex. You've aimed, steered, and are nearing the apex. Now advance your eyes to the exit point, where you want the bike back to vertical.

  4. Exit. You have completed the turn. Again, keep your eyes ahead of the motorcycle by looking down next straight to see what comes next.
Lather, rinse, repeat.

It might be helpful to remember to focus on the next piece of information you need. And if you find yourself looking at nothing in particular, get your mind back in the game ASAP.

As someone else posted, if you do lose focus, slow down. Developing the discipline takes concentration, and it's easier to master by starting slower and gradually speeding up as skill develops.
 
Aware

Aware

Well-known member
Talk yourself through the ride.

What do you see ahead? What hazards? Road surface? Road signs? Where would you expect correctly-driven oncoming traffic to appear on the next curve? Where would a car be? Where would the idiot-driven pickup truck be? Where might a fast bike be? Where should you be to be able to avoid or correct-for errant traffic?

Why is that car ahead going so slow? That gate is open. Do children live there? Is that a shadow or a pothole? What caused there to be gravel there? Is it a true hazard? Is the road wet, or worn?

How can you lose focus with so much to think about?
 
O

ontherearwheel

Well-known member
Lukich said:
Hello.

I recently started commuting from SF to Mountain View once a week. I spend a bit of time on 280 and then get onto Skyline and then polish it off with a Page Mill Road. It's an amazing route. However, I have noticed one thing in my riding, especially on Page Mill Road. There are a number of places on that road where several sharp turns are chained together and sometimes, after two or three turns my focus starts to drift.

Do you have any tips on how to quickly reengage your focus on demand? Some mnemonic device perhaps?

Thank you!
Luka
Click to expand...

It's real simple.......lack of attention on a motorcycle will get you killed.

That keeps me focused.
 
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