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How do you slice your attention pie?

kiwifornian

kiwifornian

part kiwi part californian
Joined
Jun 9, 2009
Location
Santa Clara
Moto(s)
don't mind if you look at other motorcycles... or do they?
I think it was Proficient Motorcycling that talked about the attention pie, and recently I have been wondering if I am paying attention to the right things at the right times.

Some habits come naturally. When I am about to lean over or brake, then the road surface ahead always gets a little more attention.

Some habits require a little more focus. When on a road with no divider, I try to spend at least one slice of my attention on parked cars/ side alleys/ driveways closest to me. I am primarily looking for left turners/ cars going straight, especially those who might be partially obscured behind a big ass SUV. Oncoming cars and cars in intersections on the other side of the road get a separate slice of attention - but perhaps not as much.

Lately, I realized I tend to get overly distracted by any cars acting dangerously, focusing 90% of my attention on that one possible problem, when I should simply register the threat and start scanning for additional hazards.

What habits do you keep, to make sure you are focusing on the right things at the right time?
 
I like pie
 
Been a bicycle rider since 68, long distance and such. Delivery driver, then a traveling technician. Zero tickets and no accidents after burning up 17 cars - so far.

Best advice I can offer is to think 30 seconds ahead. Observe patterns, classify all vehicles around you, modify your circumstance to avoid rather than react.
 
VeeTwin said:
Been a bicycle rider since 68, long distance and such. Delivery driver, then a traveling technician. Zero tickets and no accidents after burning up 17 cars - so far.

Best advice I can offer is to think 30 seconds ahead. Observe patterns, classify all vehicles around you, modify your circumstance to avoid rather than react.
Click to expand...

I like that. Very zen. Now go knock on wood.
 
Another thing to worry about? Now I have to think about what I'm thinking about? I was just getting over my self-consciousness about riding with unscuffed knee-pucks. Now I have to think about pie too? :(
 
the closer a vehicle gets the more I pay attention to their behavior. In normal riding I tend to gravitate towards the bubbles of empty space between clusters of cars.
 
i like blackberry pie..
i recently realized that when i go into a turn, i slice some of the pie to pay attention to the road surface, which in turn it felt like i didn't have enough pie in the right place, i've been trying to learn to give more pie to the bike and less pie to the condition of the road, just the fact that the road is there and i should feel the bike's reaction / what the suspension is doing and letting the suspension do its job, while spending some more money on practicing sight lines, body position.. and the type of stuff like not just riding the bike but being and feeling the bike.
 
It seems reasonable to dedicate a large amount of your focus to really bad drivers. If you see someone driving like an incompetent moron, odds are many times higher they will take you out, so it's only natural to dedicate many times more attention. Something else could still happen, but it's a numbers game. Plus, when a really bad driver freaks me out, I'll typically slow way the fsck down if I can, making everything else less dangerous anyway. :thumbup

Remember, 'registering a threat and moving on' is useless if said threat is close enough or threatening enough. If I see a patch of sand, I'll see it - decide - take action - move on. If I see a car pulling out from a driveway that I'll reach in less than a handful of seconds, that car gets at least 50% of my attention, because at any moment he could pull out and kill me. Highly risky factors that will be risky should a given something occur require active attention rather than acknowledgement.
 
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I try to keep most attention forward some to the sides a little to the back.
I like to keep my eyes moving, not fixate on anything.
 
serazin said:
Looking for :boobies 90%
The rest is just riding.
Click to expand...
+1 to that brother.
How you slice up the "pie of attention" is very important. Since I like hair pie, 5% of my attention goes to riding and the other 95%...


















culs005054.jpg


:twofinger
 
A simple philosophy that has worked well for years.

Look at every vehicle around you and ask yourself what can this vehicle do to kill me. Pedals, moto, car, truck are all the same. Then have the 'opt out' plan in your mind when said vehicle approaches you.
 
Mmm...pie on :boobies with ice cream on a hot summer day.
 
Pecan or Coconut Cream Love them both.

Focus mostly on lights and cars beside me as I am usually splitting :laughing But since I got rear-ended on my bike, I realize I need to focus on what is behind me too.
 
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