Tunnel vision and Target Fixation

[horsepower]

There are so many "Rights of Passage" when learning to ride a bike.
Unfortunately, crashing is one of them, and so is Tunnel vision and Target Fixation.
A particular phenomenon that occurs after a crash is the absolute obsession with trying to figure out "what went wrong" at a point in your career when you aren't fully equipped with the experience to comprehend the truth of it. New riders have full-on tunnel vision, regardless of natural ability/speed and equipment; Newer riders see the world literally "through a tunnel". With time, experience and good information, that tunnel will widen and open up.

The absolute key to widening that tunnel is your eyes.

I notice so many new riders in the back of faster experienced riders on "black Diamond" roads during group rides. As the day wears on, so does their confidence, and so does their relative speed. They fatigue, but fail to notice it due to the excitement of the ride. They move closer to the guy in front of em and attempt to match their pace. Nothing has changed in their head, but as the speed turns up, the focus ends up being, not on keeping one's eyes searching, scoping and looking for the exit of the turn or the visual cues of the next turn, but rather squarely focused either on the back of the guy in front of them or on the entry of the corner.

Flash back to yesterday and here's a message from a new rider who crashed on the very type of ride I described above:

"When you have a chance, please write a few words about what you saw.

It will mean a lot to me. Right now I am trying to analyze the day.

From the start it all felt ok, only problems i encountered were my front tire slipping when leaning, so I just stopped being lazy and moved my ass a little bit to try to keep the bike more up.
Lots of wrong entries, but I never tried to go perfectly trough the bend, and a lot of gear shifting but that is just the joy of gs500.

But when we entered that jumpy section...

It just felt wrong.

I've put a katana spring on a stock gs500 shock a few days earlier, and although stronger than stock (It gives more feedback) it is underdamped.

As the pace picked up I just felt like riding on a frame made of rubber. Even if I was able to point the beast where I wanted to it just felt like one of the wheels was just about to come off.

I tried to hold the bars lighter, but I can't say if it worked. In some moment i applied front too hard, scared probably, it picked the bike up, and although I know front brake will pick bike up, it surprised me and then all went south.

I have no idea what I did then, but probably just braked, I just know that I gave up on trying to turn and just tried to shed as much speed as possible while on the bike.

When I felt it gone for good, I did a ninja flip.

But it is all just a mess in my head.

Please tell me what you saw, no need to be polite. Whatever you say I am going to use to understand and improve. It would be a shame to miss opportunity like this, as someone experienced saw everything.

I know bike is just a small part of the story, even if everything felt right i would push more and do same mistakes... just at higher speeds.

well... you know what I'm on about.

Thank you for the ride, It was fucking great"


So, I am opening this to crash analysis, giving my opinion of what I saw and why it happened, and asking other experienced riders to give their view of why he crashed....................................

 

[horsepower]

The scenario here is a group of 8 riders. This was the last rider before the sweeper and the road was varied turns from tight to sweeping on a very uneven surface: I do not blame the road here.

Rider on a GS500 with under damping problems: Yes the GS500 isn't the most perfect handling bike and suspension could have had something to do with last minute panic and over reaction to po- go ing effect when over braking:
Contact a top pro like Dave Moss to set your bike up properly the first time. It cost $20 to set your suspension and any upgrades should be done right first and then "mapped" so that as you get better you can learn to fine tune the settings for optimum peformance: But ultimately, I don't blame the equipment or your tires or you would have crashed 5 turns in not 1,000 turns in.

As described above, rider began to "fixate on the guy directly in front...who also was braking later and hotter into turns about 4 turns before the crash. Rider also early apexed the last 2 turns before the crash. In my head I was already expecting a crash, so I "saw" the "tunnel closing".
Rider in front overbraked but made the turn. Rider behind, fixated on rider in front, also over braked, then actually turned bars to steer (a natural reaction) which then pointed bike directly into mountain ahead. Rider then turned focus to mountain ahead and hence bike proceeded as requested towards mountain.: TARGET FIXATION
I did notice that both the riders in front of me were sitting sqaurely on top of their bikes the whole ride, but I know this does not matter at all at the speeds we were going on that particular road. Body positioning had nothing to do with his crash IMHO, but his eyes and head not being turned to the exit absolutely did.

Then this rider did quite a few very skilled albeit quite instinctive things to survive. He looked away from the mountain. He got off the front brake and hit and held the rear brake, HARD. so hard in fact that the bike skidded sideways to a halt instead of proceeding up the steep mountain side. He had 5 feet and 1/2 second to perform this and he did it with remarkable instinct. He also "stayed aware" of where he was in relation to the bike and his surroundings---even though adrenaline and a bit of shock may have erased his memory of it. He didn't close his eyes. He didn't over muscle the bike and he was very athletic in his dismount: All of this saved his bike, his body and let him ride home and start to stew about what went wrong.

Any other thoughts as to the crash?

 

[Gary856]

As I read the above I got a very strange feeling that you were describing my own low-side, which happened over 3 years ago on Jamison Creek Rd, not long after I started riding. It was my first group ride, also on a GS500, also got fixated on the rider directly in front of me. Below is a part of what I wrote in a thread back then, including what happened to my vision:

When I entered that left turn, again, just following the guy in front of me but not reading the turn itself, I expected the turn to be sharp but short, so we'd be in-and-out, lean hard then straighten out. However, (from watching the video), the turn wasn't as sharp (as I remembered), but continued on much longer, and that messed me up. I remember getting disoriented in the turn, didn't know where I was in the turn, scenaries rushed up very fast, and my vision shrank to the point where I could only see my left grip and the ground just below of it. By then I knew I was in trouble, my vision kind of just shut down (maybe I was busy looking down rather than up ahead), but the tires were still sticking and I was still turning for what felt like another second or two (in reality it could have been much quicker than that), so I just held on without seeing where I was going until I heard hard parts grinding, and then I was on the ground and started sliding. I don't remember touching the brakes at all, and I don't think I chopped the throttle either. I slid on my left/back side, didn't seem that long, couldn't tell how far, don't remember seeing anything, and then did a couple of easy rolls and stood up. Got some stinging feeling in the elbows and the left leg, but no serious damage. The other guys helped me get the bike back up, and I finished the rest of ride real slow, mainly because I was worried about the front brake giving out but it was fine.

Well, after that I knew to look at the road instead of looking at the rider in front of me. Also I didn't join any group rides for a long time.

 

[tzrider]

Rider behind, fixated on rider in front, also over braked, then actually turned bars to steer (a natural reaction) which then pointed bike directly into mountain ahead. Rider then turned focus to mountain ahead and hence bike proceeded as requested towards mountain.: TARGET FIXATION

Dani, the bolded statement above may be telling, though the rider himself accounts for the bike standing up by saying he was on the front brake. Are you certain he turned the bars the wrong way or could he have stood it up on the brakes?

 

[sikiriki]

This has been cooking in my mind for two days, and as I can't remember half of it, take it with a grain of salt. Mind plays strange games trying to fill the holes.

It took someone to write it for me to notice it, but I was looking at the rider in front of me for 90% of the time.

When it all happened i did not see but just in front of the bike. Some two lengths of bike.

When we entered the turn guy in front of me disappeared and I was fcuked

Now, I know for a fact that suspension on my bike is set up badly. And as soon as we entered that bad section of road, rear end started jumping and it all transferred in to weird vibration all over the bike. It is all fine driving 70ish on a freeway, but there it just surprised me. There was no line in that turn of mine, just me wrestling with the bike.
I started braking but it just made it worse. more braking, pulling the bike up, turn approaching, more panic, less steering, again more braking and in some moment I probably turned the bars in. It just felt so heavy.

I remember a moment when i gave up on steering and grabbed the brakes. I use rear as much as front really. Just old habits. And in trying to loose speed I locked the rear.

I remember seeing center line on the road and thinking that I am done for good than looking at the ditch by the side of the road and just trying to stay in it.

When I slid down the road in to dirt rear started shaking a lot but when I lost the feeling of the front I just let go. Remember doing some kind of a roll and some kind of an effort to jump away from the bike. Remember seeing my leg in the air and then clearly remember sitting, turning around, seeing bike on a side, it was off, thought about do i feel fine for a second and than rushed for the bike 'cos I love it so

Some time before all this my front tire slid. I was not leaned extremely, Road was perfect and all should of been fine.. but my 50$ tire slid, and totally messed me up. Nothing happened, but my trust was gone.

I had around 500miles on that tire and 20or so miles on that rear shock of mine, and it all functions fine up to 70mph on a highway. It all surprised me on that ride.

My conclusion is that the road and the bike and the pace, that tire sliding and my kung fu were not in equilibrium

I was just not able to deal with it all. I have a problem with target fixation and when it becomes interesting my eyes work like i'm 79

BUT, I have full katana shock on the way, glue on the plastics and gas in the tank.

See you in a mile

 

[Enchanter]

There are so many "Rights of Passage" when learning to ride a bike.
Unfortunately, crashing is one of them, and so is Tunnel vision and Target Fixation.
A particular phenomenon that occurs after a crash is the absolute obsession with trying to figure out "what went wrong" at a point in your career when you aren't fully equipped with the experience to comprehend the truth of it. New riders have full-on tunnel vision, regardless of natural ability/speed and equipment; Newer riders see the world literally "through a tunnel". With time, experience and good information, that tunnel will widen and open up.

The absolute key to widening that tunnel is your eyes.

I notice so many new riders in the back of faster experienced riders on "black Diamond" roads during group rides. As the day wears on, so does their confidence, and so does their relative speed. They fatigue, but fail to notice it due to the excitement of the ride. They move closer to the guy in front of em and attempt to match their pace. Nothing has changed in their head, but as the speed turns up, the focus ends up being, not on keeping one's eyes searching, scoping and looking for the exit of the turn or the visual cues of the next turn, but rather squarely focused either on the back of the guy in front of them or on the entry of the corner.

Flash back to yesterday and here's a message from a new rider who crashed on the very type of ride I described above:

"When you have a chance, please write a few words about what you saw.

It will mean a lot to me. Right now I am trying to analyze the day.

From the start it all felt ok, only problems i encountered were my front tire slipping when leaning, so I just stopped being lazy and moved my ass a little bit to try to keep the bike more up.
Lots of wrong entries, but I never tried to go perfectly trough the bend, and a lot of gear shifting but that is just the joy of gs500.

But when we entered that jumpy section...

It just felt wrong.

I've put a katana spring on a stock gs500 shock a few days earlier, and although stronger than stock (It gives more feedback) it is underdamped.

As the pace picked up I just felt like riding on a frame made of rubber. Even if I was able to point the beast where I wanted to it just felt like one of the wheels was just about to come off.

I tried to hold the bars lighter, but I can't say if it worked. In some moment i applied front too hard, scared probably, it picked the bike up, and although I know front brake will pick bike up, it surprised me and then all went south.

I have no idea what I did then, but probably just braked, I just know that I gave up on trying to turn and just tried to shed as much speed as possible while on the bike.

When I felt it gone for good, I did a ninja flip.

But it is all just a mess in my head.

Please tell me what you saw, no need to be polite. Whatever you say I am going to use to understand and improve. It would be a shame to miss opportunity like this, as someone experienced saw everything.

I know bike is just a small part of the story, even if everything felt right i would push more and do same mistakes... just at higher speeds.

well... you know what I'm on about.

Thank you for the ride, It was fucking great"


So, I am opening this to crash analysis, giving my opinion of what I saw and why it happened, and asking other experienced riders to give their view of why he crashed....................................

I hesitate to use the word 'pace' in this instance, but it may be most appropriate.

What pace was the group running? What was the relative speed? What was the speed limit? What was the speed limit of the turn in question, and what was the crashing riders speed?

There is no doubt that the rider is wholly responsible for riding within their skill/ability, but I wonder if the pace of this group ride was conducive to a rider with less than a few months experience. It sounds like the (expected) learning curve was too steep, much too steep.

 

[tzrider]

I remember a moment when i gave up on steering and grabbed the brakes.

Between this comment and the one I quoted by Dani, I suspect you may have some uncertainty about how to steer effectively.

Enchanter is asking a different line of questions that I think is also relevant. The issues are inter related, I think. You have also observed that your vision becomes problematic as you become overloaded. It's an astute observation and your experience is normal.

The keys to avoiding overload are in controlling the rate at which you must make decisions and practicing fundamental skills until they require very little thought in an emergency.

With that said, do you think there may be room for improvement in your steering? Might that have made a difference?

Secondly, would looking beyond the rider in front of you and maintaining a wide field of view have the effect of making it seem that you have more time to make decisions? If so, what steps can you take to ensure that you are keeping your vision wide and farther ahead?

 

[sikiriki]

Hmmm, well I am no expert but I have been driving from around 2005, I have done around 30000miles on two wheels. It is not much but it is what it is. I am aware of countersteering and I have made trough some way more scary turns. And made some of them straight as well

What happened here was me focusing on rider in front, but I was doing that for a whole hour before. What changed everything for me was that jumping. Stock shock feels just comfy. This thing feels firmer and gives more feedback, but going somewhat faster pace I have noticed that hitting some irregularity on the road makes rear bounce. Strong but very short. If leaned, that bouncing affects front that starts to wiggle and entire bike oscillates. when we entered that section of the road it was just full of little bumps, and the bike just started wobbling slightly, as it started calming down, another bump would upset it again. I was trying to adjust to that, constantly moving and changing grip on the bars in hope I could compensate....

In the same time, I was not taking perfect lines trough corners. I made a lot of braking deep in the corners, and a lot of adjustment to steering. So it gives you an idea of the pace. It was ok. I made so much corrections deep inside the turns that if going faster I just couldn't be able to do.

Front brake on gs is strong but feeling is just that of a switch. On and off.

So in my mind I did a couple of fatal mistakes and the key here is that I have done them combined.

I focused on rider in front while I was having trouble feeling the bike. I braked late and harder than I expected. It pushed the bike up. Now I was struggling and while applying more brake I probably did turn in but I do not recall doing that. But I did that before, now I guess I did too much.

And when I knew I have blown the turn, my focus was on stopping.

I have had exactly the same thing happened to me before. I was driving xt660r and was alone on the road, that turn I did enter too hot, I braked for too long in to the turn and too hard, that I couldn't steer it. That thing is not nimble, and with the braking I did, it felt like an elephant. I then gave up on steering when I noticed all is lost, started braking, locking the rear and sliding the thing for good 40meters. Ending up in a ditch.

Feeling of that reminds me sooo much to what happened here.

My focus was on a wrong thing, I ignored the bike under me essentially telling me to cool down and I braked later and harder than needed and then there was tunnel and some music, I saw john wayne and king kong....

 

[sikiriki]

And sorry for that long answer. To make it short, yes. There is so much I need to do with my turning. I am just doing it wrong.

 

[sikiriki]

Turning = steering

 

[Enchanter]

Hmmm, well I am no expert but I have been driving from around 2005, I have done around 30000miles on two wheels.

There is no doubt that the rider is wholly responsible for riding within their skill/ability, but I wonder if the pace of this group ride was conducive to a rider with less than a few months experience. It sounds like the (expected) learning curve was too steep, much too steep.

All apologies. I was basing my assumption on your introduction post, but somehow missed the 2005 part.

Hi,

I bought a bike 2-3 weeks ago. cheap and broken but I love it. Ordered some gear, bike will be ready in a week. Now I am here, only msf to go and i am ready. Been riding bikes since 2005. In US for little less than a year. And i am to lazy to keep writing this any more, so hello everyone.

 

[sikiriki]

Real question for me now is how to continue, I just relaxed during the weekend, But this is my daily commuter and I like to drive. And I had enough of my cowboy style, that is for sure. I'll just take it slow, practicing to look at the road and searching for a beautiful line with no "corrections". but I definitely feel like I hit a "wall" with this riding of mine. People are going faster and safer and having more fun then I do. I plan to go to the track definitely.

 

[sikiriki]

All apologies. I was basing my assumption on your introduction post, but somehow missed the 2005 part.

No problem man, I mention this just as a way of explaining that i am aware of basics such as using both brakes, countersteering, looking where you go...

I have ridden bikes from 8 to 108 hp, so I have some base.

Really no ego here, I like gs500, it is fun and cheap. After a year of not driving I now have around 3500miles on this thing, in around 2 months. Still adjusting to it really.

 

[tzrider]

What changed everything for me was that jumping. Stock shock feels just comfy. This thing feels firmer and gives more feedback, but going somewhat faster pace I have noticed that hitting some irregularity on the road makes rear bounce. Strong but very short. If leaned, that bouncing affects front that starts to wiggle and entire bike oscillates. when we entered that section of the road it was just full of little bumps, and the bike just started wobbling slightly, as it started calming down, another bump would upset it again. I was trying to adjust to that, constantly moving and changing grip on the bars in hope I could compensate...

A couple of points about handling:

• Gripping the bars usually makes instability or handling problems worse.
• Positive throttle tends to stabilize the bike and reduce the tendency of the rear to bottom out on bigger bumps.

If interested, for a bit more on the first point I wrote an article several years ago about hanging on tightly to try to "control" handling problems. You can draw your own conclusions as to whether it relates to what you experienced.

http://tzrider.wordpress.com/2001/03/20/the-human-steering-damper/

Can you recall what you were doing with the throttle when your bike hit a bump and the instability began?

 

[sikiriki]

Thnx, i am going to study that.
Throttle was more or less constant, as I was trying to massage the brake I got off of it.

I remember one brief moment of me trying to body steer in attempt to position the bike for the turn. I know it is ridiculous but the bike just felt so strange...

I should of been much more determined in countersteering the thing, but my focus was not on the turn, I was still preparing for the turn when it actually happened

Whole setup and the road conditions just made me take longer to deal with approach, but it does not change the fact that I didn't look.

I would love to blame it on a bike but those minor problems just showed that i had much more serious issues under the surface.

 

[aram]

When I started reading things like this:

"i encountered were my front tire slipping when leaning"

"stopped being lazy and moved my ass a little bit to try to keep the bike more up. "

"As the pace picked up I just felt like riding on a frame made of rubber. Even if I was able to point the beast where I wanted to it just felt like one of the wheels was just about to come off."

I've ridden a lot of bikes (from ninja 250's/ex500's to 1000cc supersports), and unless you are going nutballs pace or your on something with major issues (useless tires, broken parts), you should never have any issues like described above. Either you are giving the wrong inputs (so you need to slow down until you figure out what is going on) or there is a problem with the bike that needs to be addressed before you ride it again (and this is something you should know as a rider).

 

[Gary856]

Hmmm, well I am no expert but I have been driving from around 2005, I have done around 30000miles on two wheels. It is not much but it is what it is.

but I definitely feel like I hit a "wall" with this riding of mine. People are going faster and safer and having more fun then I do. I plan to go to the track definitely.

30k miles is actually a lot of seat time but you have to make those active learning miles. Shortly after my low-side I took Lee Park’s Total Control class in San Mateo, with about 6k total riding miles under my belt. At the time I thought I could have benefitted more if I went into that class with more experience, but it laid a good foundation for my riding early on, along with a lot of book learning on riding skills. 3.5 years and 44k miles later I continue to learn and benefit from the Total Control class I took.

 

[sikiriki]

Yes I know, I am doing the suspension in the next couple of days. I know it is bad.

Front tire is bad also. It is Shinko 740. But I can live with the tire. It just has its limits.

Suspension is BAD! and I know what it is. So fixing it as soon as possible.

I must say i do not wrestle with bikes when I ride. I am a gentle person

'though I can't say I react perfectly to the bike.

Slowed down already.

 

[sikiriki]

And yes, there it is, clear as a day. I am a bad rider. And I am smart enough to see that I need help.

It is easy to hide fundamentally wrong driving with some miles and technology, but it is just a disaster waiting to happen.

I don't know what to say, I kind of know what went on, and what I need to do. but there is a big gap between theory and practical... and it is so easy to drive wrong.

 

[sikiriki]

And thank you people for comments, I have put thought in to every single one of them. It really helped to round the picture. See the forest from the trees