| End Time Warriors |
| Motorcycle Club "M/C" Protocol |
| Attention Limits |
Check List
Group Riding
Closing The Door
Rubber Band Effect
Road Captain
Ride Your Own Ride
Not Playing Follow The Leader
Attention Limits
Before You Dismount
Coffee, If You Need It.....
Lower Back
Accident Management
After The Accident
Group Riding
Closing The Door
Rubber Band Effect
Road Captain
Ride Your Own Ride
Not Playing Follow The Leader
Attention Limits
Before You Dismount
Coffee, If You Need It.....
Lower Back
Accident Management
After The Accident
Ephesians 3:20
Now to Him who is able to do
exceedingly abundantly above all that
we could ask or think according to the
power that works in us.
Now to Him who is able to do
exceedingly abundantly above all that
we could ask or think according to the
power that works in us.
Your radio may be one distraction too many
I have heard it argued by some who prefer not to ride in groups that group riding is no more
than playing 'follow the leader'. And since most of us that ride big bikes are far from being
simply followers, group riding is for 'the other guys'.
On the other hand, there is never a better time to see the fields you are driving past, or smell
the aroma of freshly cut grass, or to enjoy the sight of a couple of hot air balloons in the
distance than when everything is going right. Is this not a safety conflict however?
Permit me to suggest that 'paying attention' is not only not the same as 'being alert', it is
almost the opposite - these are mutually exclusive concepts except as regards to whatever
you happen to be focused on. Indeed, letting your attention 'wander' is very much the same
as being 'alert.' There is a lesson to be learned with the distinction.
Assume that you have a limit to how much your mind can pay attention to at any single
moment. You can be aware, for example, of traffic conditions all around you, of how fast
you are going, of the sounds your engine is making, of the approximate time of day it is, of
the words to the music you hear in your headset from your radio or tape or CD, of the
surrounding countryside unfolding around you as you drive by, of the temperature, of how
long it's been since you last ate or made a potty stop, and of the general location and status of
the motorcycles both in front and behind you. It would seem to most people that there is no
limit to how many different things you can be aware of at any one time. This, because you
scan these things quickly and PAY very little attention to them, so long as each appears to
you to conform to what you expect of them.
The ability to notice that something is wrong is called being 'alert.' When, during your
attention scanning effort (i.e., while your attention is wandering) something happens out of
the ordinary, is unexpected, then a wondrous thing happens within your mind - you FOCUS
on the discrepancy. You PAY substantially more of your attention to it. And now you find
that your ability to be attentive to many things at once has reached a limit!
For example, if you are driving down a freeway at 70 MPH and happen to notice that a truck
some distance ahead of you has just blown a tire, then you will be so completely focused on
that truck and what is around it as well as your reactions to that event that you will almost
certainly no longer be able to notice the scenery to the side of the road, nor are those hot air
balloons able to get your attention any longer, even if one of them were to fall out of the sky.
What we have discovered is that not only is there a limit to our ability to pay attention, but
when our attention is focused our ability to be alert to other things is diminished. THAT is
dangerous!
When we have to focus on some aspect of our riding we are forced to diminish the
wandering of our attention. For example, if it is raining and after dark we tend to narrow our
visual focus and concentrate on what we see ahead of us. At this time we do not have the
ability to let our attention wander very far for we have very little attention left. Indeed, if we
then discover that we are lost the very first thing we will all do is to slow down so that speed
is no longer consuming any of our attention - we have already exceeded our limits.
This is no time for us to have a radio on or be listening to a tape!
That is the message here:
In any situation in which you must focus your attention you must at the same time reduce as
many distractions as possible.
 If you are riding an unfamiliar bike, make sure the radio/tape is off and that you do
not test any other limits (such as high speed or steep lean angles.)
 If traffic suddenly increases or becomes 'weird', hit your mute button and reduce
speed if possible.
 If the weather suddenly turns bad, hit your mute button and reduce speed if possible.
Clearly your radio can become one distraction too many.
I have heard it argued by some who prefer not to ride in groups that group riding is no more
than playing 'follow the leader'. And since most of us that ride big bikes are far from being
simply followers, group riding is for 'the other guys'.
On the other hand, there is never a better time to see the fields you are driving past, or smell
the aroma of freshly cut grass, or to enjoy the sight of a couple of hot air balloons in the
distance than when everything is going right. Is this not a safety conflict however?
Permit me to suggest that 'paying attention' is not only not the same as 'being alert', it is
almost the opposite - these are mutually exclusive concepts except as regards to whatever
you happen to be focused on. Indeed, letting your attention 'wander' is very much the same
as being 'alert.' There is a lesson to be learned with the distinction.
Assume that you have a limit to how much your mind can pay attention to at any single
moment. You can be aware, for example, of traffic conditions all around you, of how fast
you are going, of the sounds your engine is making, of the approximate time of day it is, of
the words to the music you hear in your headset from your radio or tape or CD, of the
surrounding countryside unfolding around you as you drive by, of the temperature, of how
long it's been since you last ate or made a potty stop, and of the general location and status of
the motorcycles both in front and behind you. It would seem to most people that there is no
limit to how many different things you can be aware of at any one time. This, because you
scan these things quickly and PAY very little attention to them, so long as each appears to
you to conform to what you expect of them.
The ability to notice that something is wrong is called being 'alert.' When, during your
attention scanning effort (i.e., while your attention is wandering) something happens out of
the ordinary, is unexpected, then a wondrous thing happens within your mind - you FOCUS
on the discrepancy. You PAY substantially more of your attention to it. And now you find
that your ability to be attentive to many things at once has reached a limit!
For example, if you are driving down a freeway at 70 MPH and happen to notice that a truck
some distance ahead of you has just blown a tire, then you will be so completely focused on
that truck and what is around it as well as your reactions to that event that you will almost
certainly no longer be able to notice the scenery to the side of the road, nor are those hot air
balloons able to get your attention any longer, even if one of them were to fall out of the sky.
What we have discovered is that not only is there a limit to our ability to pay attention, but
when our attention is focused our ability to be alert to other things is diminished. THAT is
dangerous!
When we have to focus on some aspect of our riding we are forced to diminish the
wandering of our attention. For example, if it is raining and after dark we tend to narrow our
visual focus and concentrate on what we see ahead of us. At this time we do not have the
ability to let our attention wander very far for we have very little attention left. Indeed, if we
then discover that we are lost the very first thing we will all do is to slow down so that speed
is no longer consuming any of our attention - we have already exceeded our limits.
This is no time for us to have a radio on or be listening to a tape!
That is the message here:
In any situation in which you must focus your attention you must at the same time reduce as
many distractions as possible.
 If you are riding an unfamiliar bike, make sure the radio/tape is off and that you do
not test any other limits (such as high speed or steep lean angles.)
 If traffic suddenly increases or becomes 'weird', hit your mute button and reduce
speed if possible.
 If the weather suddenly turns bad, hit your mute button and reduce speed if possible.
Clearly your radio can become one distraction too many.