Good read on racing and your brain (long but good)

[Mantis]

I've been doing a lot of skydiving lately, and just like racing it is a very mental sport. Skydiving is great, but you must be mentally prepared if you want to acheive your goals. I found this article while looking for skydiving articles and realized it not only relates to skydiving but motorcycle racing as well. It is long, but worth a few minutes.

I've provided a link to avoid any problems since it's copyrighted:


http://freespace.virgin.net/adrian.rose/brain.htm

[velocity bmg]

5. Don't become too attached to any technique; they are simply rungs on the ladder you are using to climb the learning curve. For example, a musician studies scales, and then learns to play a few song by rote, but its only when they let go of ridged adherence to technique that they create music.

That is so correct.

[GSXR RACER MIKE]

I like the part about ALWAYS doing race lines, even when walking, I do that myself. I'm always practicing racing lines whenever I'm moving, when I'm driving my truck on the street I still do it (but safely within my own lane). I like to think of it like the concept of martial arts training, they do constant repetitious practice of the CORRECT ACTION, just at a slower pace. Then when you add speed to it your brain already knows the pattern and the reference points from doing it constantly. This is also where my opinion comes from of just doing lap after lap at Track Days doesn't necessarily improve your 'racecraft'. If the lines your taking, the reference points your using, and the actions of your body that you would use at race speed are all being used correctly, THEN I agree that more practice could help you to better improve your rythem on the track. BUT, if your running lines that are not true race lines, or utilizing special 'safety rules' that are only used for insurance reasons at non-racing events, then you may very well develop bad habits that may haunt you once you start racing.

So much of what is written in that long article is so very true, especially the part about when you start to switch into the zone and you stop focusing so much on things that don't matter and only focus on the things that do.

[Mantis]

This is my favorite part, since the slo-mo thing has happened to me a few times:



Now here is a strange paradox, when the s#$* really hits the fan (like you hit oil in the middle of a high speed turn, your throttle hangs open, or your brakes fail) then you are facing a VERY threatening situation (perhaps life and death), your right hemisphere (which is a more direct conduit to your instincts) overpowers the left hemisphere and tries to recover from the situation, or at least tries to minimise the damage. This is a very odd feeling, its sort of like being along for a slow motion ride as you watch some other part of you controlling your hands; flicking the wheel back and forth at lightning speed.
This RAS triggered right and left hemisphere interaction is the reason a big mistake (like having a big crash, or really scaring the s*#% out of yourself) can cause a setback in your learning process by making it hard to get back to the zone. This can happen because your left hemisphere may figure "Oh great, I went into the zone, let the right hemisphere have some control, and it goes and puts us in danger... I guess I have to do everything myself". The funny thing is, your left hemisphere probably caused the problem in the first place, and it was actually your right hemisphere that jumped in and tried to save the day. However, your left hemisphere is really pretty much the tyrannical ruler of your brain and will ignore or distort the facts to make itself right.
If you have an experience like this, you must reestablish the left hemisphere's trust in the right hemisphere's ability to drive before you can get back to the zone.