Restricting Evasive Potential
This is a good overall principle, but is especially tailored for those who like to push limits of self and machine. Murphy is ever present in day to day riding and can be extremely problematic at inopportune moments. Life as a motorcyclist would be a lot simpler if Murphy had not come along and introduced his inconvenient law. I’m talking, of course, about Murphy’s Law: Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. There is no escaping it. We as humans like to keep on the straight and narrow. We desire order in our experience on this planet. We want our lives to live out in a seamless and comfortable progression. However, despite our best intentions and proactiveness, chaos inevitably seeps through the walls of order that we construct around ourselves. When chaos has entered the arena, the individual must be able to think and act quickly to mitigate the effects that chaos has on their existence. The more assertively an individual is able to react, the less damaging chaos will be as it sweeps past.
There are many ways that humans have developed to weather the effects of chaos. If humans were not able to react to chaos, the effects would be extremely damaging. There are examples of this throughout our civilization. Damaged souls sometimes never recover after the loss of a loved one. There are untold numbers of people who are faced with adverse health conditions, who are unable to make the proper lifestyle and dietary changes to correct the downward spiral. Many individuals become tightly gripped by addiction, never successfully breaking free from their afflicted habits despite obvious signs of life destruction. All of such examples are sad stories that do not end well for those who were not able to adapt. Vitality favours those who can react to chaos in creative ways. How do these trains of thought apply to riding motorcycles? There are two significant ways.
The Power of Options
Humans are very complex creatures. The types of adversity we face can be attacked with a plethora of tactics to diminish the lasting effects of chaos. The more access one has to the different types of tactics, the better equipped they are to progress without lasting effects. When Murphy shows up while riding a motorcycle, the tactics that can be applied by the individual are much more narrow compared to that of regular existence. Our machines and the environment that they operate in have limitations. Having a limited amount of options to deal with Murphy makes each of them of critical value to the rider. Think about options as survival tools. It is important to have all of your tools available in your tool belt for when you need them. There are ways of riding that reduce access to these tools, sometimes making them completely inaccessible. Not having access to all of the options that should be available is an extremely risky practice as a motorcyclist. In most cases, dealing with an unseen hazard will usually have a clear cut option to pursue. If the rider has inadvertently restricted their access to this option, they have figuratively backed themselves into a corner, with no hopes of escape.
The Power of Evasion
Knowing your options and using them in an assertive manner is a life saving skill all motorcyclists must have. No matter how prepared you are, the universe can throw chaotic curve balls that must be reacted to rapidly. An essential component of risk management hinges on the ability to evade unexpected danger during high risk situations. We always aim to be proactive and stay ahead of threats, but when they appear out of thin air we can only rely on fast decisions and fast action. As stated during Poor Machine Connection, Evasive Potential is the current potential for the rider to evade threats. The higher the Evasive Potential, the greater the potential for the rider to successfully perform an evasive manoeuvre.
The Risk of Restriction
Not having access to an option when you need it can have grim consequences. On one hand, knowing your options and building the skills to execute them is an essential component of riding. On the other hand, a more important component is to avoid riding in ways that diminish your access to these options. The most risky way that individuals restrict their options is by pushing the limits of their machine and/or personal skills. If you are riding at 100% capacity of your skills, or your machine’s capabilities, you will have effectively exhausted all of your Evasive Potential by pushing rider and machine to the limit. You want all of your resources available because at a moment’s notice you may have to decrease or increase speed, change Lean-Angle, alter road position, come to a complete stop, or avoid danger with a hard swerve. If you are riding at maximum capacity, you will have very limited options, if you have any at all. Different riders and different machines will have different limits, but public roadways have their own inherit limits. With all of the fluctuating variables, even the best riders on the best machines cannot fully control the risk while riding aggressively. Maximum capacity riding should be reserved for private courses only. Keep your options open; be prepared for the unexpected.
Warning: the following video has a collision involving an animal. Viewer discretion is advised.
