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The commuting mindset is the most conservative, risk averse, and safe of the mindsets I use to approach riding. There's a couple of other ones (spirited street, track, offroad, and supermoto all come to mind), but this one is the broadest and the most useful and accessible to other riders, so I'm starting here. But before we get into the details, I think it's important to discuss some of the foundational components of safe riding. The baseline for looking at hazards in MSF that stuck with me was "Search, Evaluate, Execute" (SEE) as the approach to how you look at common situations to identify and react to hazards. There's also the concept of maintaining a "space cushion" that showed up in the CA drivers handbook. These things are both good foundational skills - look for upcoming hazards, decide on a plan of action, and then perform that plan of action, and make sure you have space for emergency maneuvers. These techniques are designed to give you time to identify an incoming situation, and rely on your vision and evaluation skills of the current state of things to decide on a plan of action. This covers the foundational mental component of safe riding - identify hazards as they are presented to you, and avoid them. Most riders will start to evolve on this organically, where they look at things that have the potential to be hazards and react to them preemptively. If you haven't started doing this yet, it's a great starting point for safe riding (or driving, or bicycling). It's also worth noting that any emotional reaction from someone else doing something is likely an outcome of not adequately predicting and internalizing that thing. I don't get angry when people merge into me anymore because I've already accepted that possibility and done my best to counter it actually impacting me in any way. In general, if you find yourself having strong emotional reactions to other drivers on the road, it's a good time to reflect on why you're actually reacting to that thing - is it because you failed to adequately predict the behavior? There's also the component of using the controls to avoid road hazards or misbehaving cars. Many people spend a lot of time (as they should!) honing their skillsets for those reaction moments, be it hard application of the brakes, judicious use of the throttle, or a quick swerve to get around an obstacle. People also seek out things like dirt riding, trials, supermoto, etc, to build skillsets when the bike starts to move past the limits of traction so they can handle those situations more confidently. All of these things are very good ideas, and I have spent significant amounts of working on those skills. However, for my daily commute, I consider needing any of these skills to be a failure in approaching the commuting environment appropriately. As an analogy, I wear full gear nearly always on my commute, but I haven't needed it in the last few years to protect me from a crash, and I consider having to use my riding skills during my commute similar to having to use my gear in a crash - any significant usage of the performance of my motorcycle is exposing me to risk of screwing it up, losing traction, and crashing. As the old saw goes: Superior riders use superior judgment to avoid situations that require superior skill. When I first started thinking like this, I considered any time I had to use my "track skills" on the street to be a situation I needed to reflect on and evaluate. Now, I consider any time that someone else forces me to use the brake, throttle, or change the trajectory of my bike a failure. There are a few unavoidable situations that pop up every couple of months, generally around no look lane changes during lane sharing, but now they generally happen at low enough speeds that even having to execute the swerve after a long, tiring day at work is not a big deal. With all of that foundation laid out, the commute mindset breaks down to a very simple thing: How do I get to work each day using as little of my riding skill as possible? The mental side of the game is wide open - use and stretch those mental muscles! But the needed riding skills to get to work should be no more than gentle countersteering, throttle, and brake application, and the associated shifting. The staples I use to prevent having to do more than that are as follows: Lane position Making sure that the bike is pointed in a direction of clear road as much as possible (either towards the split, towards the shoulder, or towards a blank spot in traffic) Trying to consistently break free of groups of cars and exist in the space between groups of cars on the freeway In the split, moving slow enough that I don't have to perform massive swerves to stop avoid unexpected lane changes I'll lay out a few situations here to hopefully illustrate: If I'm riding in traffic, I will attempt to position myself so that lane changes, sudden applications of the brakes or gas by the cars around me won't cause an accident, even if I do nothing. If I'm getting ready to change lanes, and there is a car two lanes over, I will accelerate or brake slightly so that if that car changes lanes at the same time, we won't end up colliding. If I'm in traffic, and traffic is slowing, I will gently point the bike towards the split as soon as I'm reasonably sure I will be sharing. That way if the car in front of me slams on the brakes, I'm still likely to make it into the split without an aggressive swerve needed to avoid hitting them. If they start to change lanes when I enter the split, I'm already in position to move with them into the next lane over and split the 2/3 lanes instead of the 1/2 lanes. If I'm in the carpool lane and traffic is moving at 50mph, and the next lane over is completely stopped, my reaction is to ride on the fog line, very nearly on the shoulder. This way, if a car pulls out from the stopped traffic into the car pool lane, it requires no movement and no skill from me to avoid the accident in the vast majority of cases. If they are pulling on to the shoulder, I have additional space and time to consider my options and swerve gently on to the shoulder with them or swerve behind their vehicle, depending on the situation. Swerving gently on to the shoulder with the car requires minimal skill to perform as it's only a movement of a few feet to the side, whereas swerving behind them will likely require significant skill to execute and put me on a bad path into stopped traffic. Generally, looking at every situation as "how can I position myself so I need the the minimum amount of effort and skill to navigate this situation" is going to pretty clearly give you the lowest risk option, and you should train yourself to always go for that option as far in advance of the situation actually developing as possible. Don't let your speedy commute ambitions outweigh your talent! The caveat: It's possible to switch mindsets multiple times in a single ride. Maintaining the commute mindset for the majority of my ride helps me establish a reasonably safe baseline, but I definitely will swap to the spirited riding mindset when I get a good run at a clear interchange!
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Oct 22, 2016 06:37
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| # ? Apr 19, 2024 19:46 |
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I like this post and think it is a good post. I've been commuting by scooter for 12+ years, and I've come to the same conclusions. Years ago, I realized that any time I had more than 1 "close call" (any emergency use of advanced skills, as you put it) in, say, 3 months, it was my fault. It wasn't my fault that other vehicle swerved or stopped suddenly for no visible reason or whatever, but it was my fault that it was close. So I'd have a little sit-down with myself and figure out what had shifted in my mentality towards riding. What change allowed this to happen? Was I distracted? Was I complacent? Was I impatient and riding too fast for the environment? I'd figure it out, and I'd kick that to the curb. The key is this: You have no control over other people's behavior. You only have control over how you react. And if you anticipate correctly, and prepare accordingly, you don't even have to react. It's real
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Oct 22, 2016 07:17
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My biggest breakthrough was similar to GND's with an added pinch of anger management. Mid-20's Jim Silly Balls would let drivers know they hosed up with extreme prejudice. That really didn't help anything. It made drivers more skittish and generally raised the level of danger for everyone. Now I'll maybe do the "point at my eyes, then at the road" thing to people and that's it. Commuting 70 miles round trip every day has really taught me that it's best to not rock the boat, traffic-wise
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Oct 22, 2016 15:24
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Jim Silly-Balls posted:My biggest breakthrough was similar to GND's with an added pinch of anger management. Mid-20's Jim Silly Balls would let drivers know they hosed up with extreme prejudice. Mostly just slow head shakes and thumbs-downs from me now.
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Oct 23, 2016 05:23
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I always have a difficult time explaining to my friends or family how mentally exhausted I am after a full day of riding. I've been able to somewhat explain how driving a car requires a "different" mental state than a bike - but I think you put it into words perfectly. Riding a bike is essentially the maximum level effort of defensive driving. Being able to recognize and then dismiss risk and hazards instantly is something you must learn - and it does come with experience - but you must be open minded and actually analyze your driving habits. Unfortunately, this is why I wasn't able to ride with my friends as comfortably as I could with my father. Most of my friends weren't careless - but they weren't in the same mental state that I was, and it made me feel uncomfortable.
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Nov 9, 2016 21:53
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The Mindset of a Long Term Commuter: My God, its full of cars! Anyway, my usual 35 mile one way commute was made more interesting this morning by the fact that it was 47 degrees out, the elite never truly warmed up, and I faced a super stiff head wind the whole way. Was not super fun barely being able to keep up with traffic. I honestly might block off half the radiator for the ride home, the elite is pretty dumpy when it's not up to temp.
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Nov 10, 2016 15:44
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I saw a tip on here a long time ago that has been helpful for making myself more visible. When you're going down a road and there's a car waiting to turn either across the road or in front of you, dipping back and forth a bit has made a huge difference in my visibility.
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Nov 10, 2016 20:39
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MomJeans420 posted:I saw a tip on here a long time ago that has been helpful for making myself more visible. When you're going down a road and there's a car waiting to turn either across the road or in front of you, dipping back and forth a bit has made a huge difference in my visibility. SMIDSY wiggle.
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Nov 11, 2016 00:18
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I definitely have not reached a state of mind where I can just suppress anger when someone tries to merge into me. I think the worst example was when a Jeep was speeding behind me, I signaled my intention to yield the lane to them and merge right and they decided to abruptly pass me on the right as I was merging. I barely caught sight of that maneuver.
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Nov 17, 2016 08:35
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Re: lane position in HOV lane I started riding near the fog line in the far-left HOV but I had a to use brakes once with a lane change I didn't see coming, screened by the car in front of me. After evaluating it and being more cognizant of my follow distance in that situation - I was riding too close but I found that even a large cushion in the would screen traffic closer than I was comfortable with - I decided I prefer to ride in the right third in the HOV. It gives me a longer sight line between lanes and I feel like if I can see the side mirrors on more cars down the split, I'm more visible. I've seen guys riding in the left-third with a car on their fender and it's real easy to miss them in front of the car until very late, coming from behind.
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Nov 17, 2016 20:53
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I always try to ride in a blocking position, to discourage people from trying to share the lane or make a stupid illegal pass or something. In the leftmost lane (or divided HOV lane), you ride on the right side. In the rightmost lane, you ride on the left side. In middle lanes, you switch between left and right depending on the next lane change you're planning, to minimize car drivers' confusion when you make a move.
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Nov 18, 2016 05:49
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If the cars can't see you behind another car cause you're on the left side, increase following distance. And run your high beam. I ride on the left side of the road in the HOV because the amount of commute miles I stack up every week mean eventually someone's gonna pull out fast in front of me no matter what my lane position is, and I'm not interested in gambling if I'm gonna pull off the swerve at that point. Maybe doesn't meet everyone's risk calculus, but on a long enough timeline someone's gonna pull out in front of you even if you're riding a police bike with the sirens and lights on.
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Nov 18, 2016 06:30
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Just want to complain that at a left turn that has two left turn lanes, I'm used to cars on the leftmost lane not realizing the right lane also turns left, and going wide. In the past week I've had two cars on the right lane drift all the way in to the left lane (and almost hit me), which is pretty stupid since it's obvious there's a lane there. I wonder if the arrival of the holiday season is making everyone shittier at driving.
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Nov 18, 2016 18:02
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MomJeans420 posted:Just want to complain that at a left turn that has two left turn lanes, I'm used to cars on the leftmost lane not realizing the right lane also turns left, and going wide. In the past week I've had two cars on the right lane drift all the way in to the left lane (and almost hit me), which is pretty stupid since it's obvious there's a lane there. I wonder if the arrival of the holiday season is making everyone shittier at driving. I'm always aware of this, but mainly because a coworker and riding buddy of mine has a metal plate and several screws in his ankle because of this very situation years ago. Though, in his example, it was a car in the far left turn lane who drifted mid-intersection into the right lane position.
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Mar 11, 2017 17:55
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MomJeans420 posted:Just want to complain that at a left turn that has two left turn lanes, I'm used to cars on the leftmost lane not realizing the right lane also turns left, and going wide. In the past week I've had two cars on the right lane drift all the way in to the left lane (and almost hit me), which is pretty stupid since it's obvious there's a lane there. I wonder if the arrival of the holiday season is making everyone shittier at driving. Conversely, there's one intersection near me where the inner-left-turn-lane people tend to chop the corner way short so, over the years, outer-left-turn-lane people started placing their car over the lane dividing line, if not completely in the wrong lane termporarily. Super fun for people who actually use the lanes as intended.
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Apr 13, 2017 17:18
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I've basically ended up with a similar attitude. Basically do everything to give you more time to react if someone fucks up, and expect everyone to do so. These days I've gotten to the point I don't even get upset with people's idiocy because I see it coming with plenty of time to react. I find the hard part is to stay focused on days when I'm tired because of work and such. Probably the biggest area to improve on, but realistically I don't know how feasible it is. It's hard to stay switched on for 3 hours of commuting every day! On the other hand, riding with the above mentality means even when you switch off you're still giving yourself more time to react. Barnsy fucked around with this message at 12:58 on May 2, 2017 |
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May 2, 2017 12:51
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Someone got mad enough to pull up and rant at me and then cut me off to make a u turn because I wouldn't move to let him pass through traffic while waiting at a light for a left turn.  There basically wasn't space for him to cross through because traffic was piled up waiting for the left turn green. At first he started honking at me when I didn't see him then I ignored him when I saw him lol. Frankly the way I see it, if motorcycles aren't going to be given any traffic advantages (in the state of GA) I'm under no obligation to be a "nice guy" and move my bike into a squeeze so that he can cross sooner. If the police can bust me for taking advantage of a motorcycle's physical characteristics (splitting/filtering/shoulder riding) then I'll just ride like a car. That means no Mr. Camry I'm not going to pull diagonally over or move into a side space to let you slip through. If I have to follow the same exact laws as a car then gently caress it, I'm a car taking up car-like space. It was pretty funny, he was going off about "I hope you crash" "why are you such an rear end in a top hat" You made me this way atlanta, now you gotta deal with it
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May 2, 2017 14:07
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Or maybe next time don't block the drive? I might be paranoid but I'm not a big fan of stopping my bike in the middle of a path where an inattentive knob or road-raging asshat can t-bone me
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May 2, 2017 15:44
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Well the alternative is usually not lining up tightly and then watching as some dickhead cuts you in line and then turns agonizingly slow causing you to miss the light and getting to wait for another one. I'm not too paranoid in that area since it's rich white people ville who have more to lose than some random dude on a bike.
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May 2, 2017 15:51
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Marietta entitled residents. F U C K them. So many near misses in that loving city.
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May 2, 2017 17:13
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Razzled posted:Someone got mad enough to pull up and rant at me and then cut me off to make a u turn because I wouldn't move to let him pass through traffic while waiting at a light for a left turn. I will stop short of a green light if the other side isn't yet clear, in order to avoid blocking the cross street if the light changes and and traffic still hasn't moved -- but this is just retarded. You don't have any right of way over the cars in the road when you're waiting to turn out of a driveway. Dude needed to chill.
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May 2, 2017 19:57
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Razzled posted:Well the alternative is usually not lining up tightly and then watching as some dickhead cuts you in line and then turns agonizingly slow causing you to miss the light and getting to wait for another one. You're totally in the right here. The correct response from the person honking is to slowly nose out into traffic so that they're blocking the other lane and the car behind you enough such that when you move on everyone else is stuck waiting for them to ease their way across the remaining two lanes of traffic.
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May 2, 2017 21:44
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Agreed with all of this, but lights that are BRIGHT AS gently caress help so much. I ran dual 4.5" diameter 25W single-emitter LEDs on my dual sport and I felt Moses when lane-splitting: http://www.cyclopsadventuresports.com/Long-Range-Extreme-LED-Light_p_61.html If I had time I would put more lights on, combining spot beams aimed at mirror height and other fill to catch the eye. It's not something to count on, but it sure helps when people MOVE because they see you coming. That's that many fewer variables in the "do they see me, do they not" calculus. It also helps command your lane even when not splitting. The "sorry mate, I didn't see you" argument doesn't work so well when you shine brightly enough that the sun itself seems dim by comparison. And yes, dimmers are necessary for night riding, but again light is your friend here. MotoMind fucked around with this message at 23:48 on May 2, 2017 |
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May 2, 2017 23:45
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| # ? Apr 19, 2024 19:46 |
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Sagebrush posted:I will stop short of a green light if the other side isn't yet clear, in order to avoid blocking the cross street if the light changes and and traffic still hasn't moved -- but this is just retarded. You don't have any right of way over the cars in the road when you're waiting to turn out of a driveway. Dude needed to chill. Not only this but that guy usually can't see the other lane of traffic properly and I've been almost hit multiple times by people pulling out in that exact situation.
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May 6, 2017 02:22
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