Could I be wrong?

[StillTry'n]

This question is more directed to bikers who put up their rides for a few months every year due to winter conditions....or for whatever reasons: you just stop riding for an extended period of time.

However, if you are an all year around sunshine state rider who never hooks up a battery tender (or moves away)..... this probably does not apply. But please feel free to offer your thoughts.

It does not matter if you've been on bikes for one year or forty years: I have a question for all you folks who ride motorcycles and then stop riding them for a period of months at a time.

Here is my question!

I have noticed (personal experience, only) that after not riding my bike during the winter, and then getting back on the bike (after maybe four months) that I can do things on the bike I could not do when I put it up. I can actually (on the first ride of the year) do things that I would not dare to do on the last day I stopped riding.

Now think about this before you reply.

When I stopped riding, I had a certain level of competence on the bike. There were skills that I had not yet learned. There were roads and situations that I would not put myself into. I then stored the bike for the winter.

I get back on the very same bike in the spring!

I can now ride that bike in a way (far advanced) from the day when I stopped riding.

What is going on here? Have you experienced this?

Dan

[dean owens]

Have you experienced this?

yes. i now pretty much ride year around, but the break between my first two years was like that. i too was a little shocked. so what is the reasoning for it?

i wish i had the info on the study, but i don't so you'll have to take my word for it. i mean, i'm a guy on the internet whom you've never met. i have amazing amounts of credibility right?!

in all seriousness, i remember learning about a study where they took a group of people and had them shoot a number of free throws (basketball foul shots for those that might not know). then recorded what they could do and broke them into 3 groups.

group 1 - they told them to go on about their lives and not practice or think about shooting free throws.
group 2 - told them to practice a certain amount each week.
group 3 - they told them not to practice physically but to mentally practice. mentally they were to stand at the free throw line and go through the shot in their minds and see the ball going in.

again, because i don't have the study i can't remember the exact results but they went something like this.

group 1 - no improvement. big shocker there.
group 2 - improved but i can't remember the %. for the discussion let's say they improved by 80%.
group 3 - they too improved, not as much as group 2 but still a great improvement. going on the made up 80% i want to say that group 3 was something like 60-70% improvement.

again, made up numbers because i can't remember the particulars... but you see the point. there is something to practicing mentally. i know if i'm not riding i'm still thinking about riding. for the 3 months you put up the bike you're still riding in your head. you're reading articles, learning new things and imagining you're on your bike when you hit a good road. i even imagine how i will handle various traffic situations when in my truck like cars turning left in front of me, or pot holes, etc. as you do that, you practice mentally. in a way, it makes perfect since.

and since i'm a completely credible guy on the internet who would never lie or make stuff up you can trust it as gospel.

[jaskc78]

i'm gonna vote with Dean on this one--the mental practice makes all the difference in the world. i ride year-round, but even just running errands in my truck or the days that it rains or any other reason i'm not on my motorcycle, i still watch out for the same traffic situations and see my way out, picture what i'd do on the motorcycle, or even just imagining that i'm on my motorcycle and what lane position i'd choose to be most visible, etc. i can't imagine it's an uncommon thing at all for motorcyclists to still think like motorcyclists even in a car.

[havegunjoe]

I think you may have learned to use the "Force" over the winter months. If anything, I found that I am more cautious due to the amount of sand left on the road. I didn’t have any trouble starting up and hitting the road but I did approach things a little more cautiously. I thought for example that I would stall out a few times until I got the feel of the bike back. Nope, not once did that happen.

[MZ33]

In nursing school, the first semester of clinical rotations exposes a lot of ineptitude, confusion, and hence, anxiety. The faculty were always patient and laid-back about this (no patient was ever in danger), saying "You'll get it." Most students did not find this reassuring. Finally, one professor said, "we don't know why, but something happens over the summer, and what seems overwhelming and insurmountable now will be straightforward and clear to you in the fall. Wait and see." Damned if she wasn't right. Of course there were new challenges, but something percolated over the summer, and not one of us was the clumsy idiot of the previous year. We didn't just pick up where we left off--we had grown.

[StillTry'n]

In nursing school, the first semester of clinical rotations exposes a lot of ineptitude, confusion, and hence, anxiety. The faculty were always patient and laid-back about this (no patient was ever in danger), saying "You'll get it." Most students did not find this reassuring. Finally, one professor said, "we don't know why, but something happens over the summer, and what seems overwhelming and insurmountable now will be straightforward and clear to you in the fall. Wait and see." Damned if she wasn't right. Of course there were new challenges, but something percolated over the summer, and not one of us was the clumsy idiot of the previous year. We didn't just pick up where we left off--we had grown.

MZ33

Your words remind me of the new movie "Alice in Wonderland"!

And to Dean and everyone else who has thought about this I am going to agree: this whole motorcycle riding "thing" is more mental than physical.

My personal goal on the bike is to be able to ride in the same way that USA and Asian Motorcops ride their big Hondas and BMC bikes. Fast...furious...and with severe close turning maneuvers. You should watch this stuff on YouTube.

My old brain tells me I cannot do this. I stop riding for four months and my new brain has told me something else. I think I need to get away from the bike for a period of time.

Dan

[sunshine229]

When living in Alberta I had to put the bike away for a long winter. Now that I'm in London I don't have a bike but once and a while I get out on Mike's. Either way I fit your description.

I find that I actually have to "prepare" before going out on that first ride of the year. I spend days thinking about it: imagining myself putting on the gear, getting on the bike, riding down our street. And when I do head out I find that I am a bit psyched, kind of like when I'm about to start an athletic competition. It's the power of the mental preparation.

After being off the bike for some time it is very liberating to feel the ride again. It's as if I am flying even though I am not actually doing anything different than the October before. It's just that the rides in October felt mundane and normal, while the March ride feels brand new.

So while I feel like I am doing more and pushing myself further in that first ride of the year, I am not actually doing it (or I don't think I am anyways). I'm just feeling it for the first time...again.

[Triumphgirl]

i'm gonna vote with Dean on this one--the mental practice makes all the difference in the world. i ride year-round, but even just running errands in my truck or the days that it rains or any other reason i'm not on my motorcycle, i still watch out for the same traffic situations and see my way out, picture what i'd do on the motorcycle, or even just imagining that i'm on my motorcycle and what lane position i'd choose to be most visible, etc. i can't imagine it's an uncommon thing at all for motorcyclists to still think like motorcyclists even in a car.

+1

[storysunfolding]

This has been an interesting read for me. People bring numerous mental limitations to riding. For instance, experience has trained you throughout your life that you will fall if you lean your body to 45 degrees. However, on a motorcycle that's not necessarily true. Those fears and conditioning prevent us from pushing further than we're comfortable. However, in regards to your skills advancing, I think you're wrong.

I am willing to believe that you overcame certain fears and personal limitations, but I'd be hard pressed to believe that your skills improved. For instance, if at 20 mph you could stop your bike in 15 ft consistently in the fall, I do not believe that hopping onto the motorcycle you could now stop in 10-11 feet.

One thing that I'm sure changes over the winter are your perceptions. Events that are either hard or scary seem to magnify in our memories the longer we're away from them.

[StillTry'n]

It's mostly mental. I do in fact ride better because I am letting go of the ingrained thought process that says I can't do this. I can't turn my bike on a dime.

I can do this. An I will be telling myself that every time I get on the bike.

All I know is that NOT riding for almost four months changed the way I ride.

Your responses have been most appreciated....as always!

Dan