Is listening to music while riding safe?

This is one question that never gets old. And for good reason. 

Experienced riders suggest the use of airplugs, as continuos wind-noise in your helmet can lead to loss of hearing. None-the-less is listening to music pushing it too far?

This is a personal opinion that you must decide on. When I first started riding I never listened to music (for about 3 months). Now I do listen to music. One day after listening to music for a while I thought maybe this isn't a great idea, I'll test it out by not listening to music on my commutes today. Because I commute on the 3rd Mainland Bridge, I came to the realisation that I can't hear squat over the wind and it is more detrimental to my hearing than listening to music with "in ear buds". Honestly I can hear my engine just as well with music, but it helps if you can access the volume to turn up and down in different situations. 

Hence the math equation below:

Riding with a whole lot of windnoise = fatigued.

Riding with earplugs = no wind-noise, but bored rather easily.

Riding with music (w/ inner-ear buds) = much more entertaining and energetic trip.

This is obviously just my opinion. I've found that over long distances, cutting out windnoise is prioritized, but with music playing, riding seems to be more based on instinct, and I feel less panicked when Danfos attempt to make a quick trip across lanes, or a big gust of wind hits.

I remember asking an experienced rider a while ago and getting this reply: It is safer without. That doesn't mean it's dangerous with. It can take some focus away from riding. I'd think if you need to ask if safe, then you probably aren't ready for the distraction. 

If you enjoy listening to music while riding, get this: Research shows that tuning in to your favorite jams can make you ride happier, harder, and faster. Music is scientifically proven to reduce perceived exertion, boost your energy levels, and increase your endurance by as much as 15 percent.

The world’s most prolific researcher on music and exercise, Costas Karageorghis, PhD, from London’s Brunel University School of Sport and Education, boils it down to this: “Music is like a legal performance-enhancing drug for athletes.”

If, however, you have "Who you 'epp" blaring so high that you can’t hear cars approaching behind you, another rider trying to pass you, or a barking dog coming straight for you, it can wreck your ride—and someone else’s—in a second.

Here’s how to stay safe and be civilized while rocking out on your ride.

Use one earbud. Unless you’re on your trainer, pull the left bud (which faces traffic) out of your ear and ride with just the right one in so you can hear cars, other riders, and your general surroundings. You don’t want to be taken by surprise by canines, deer, or vehicles, which can happen in even remote settings. If you’re a hopeless audiophile, you can buy single ear buds from companies like OneGood Earphones that are designed to mix both channels of stereo audio sound into a single earpiece, so you don’t miss a beat. 

Follow the 60/60 rule. Blaring music, even in just one ear, can be distracting and even damaging to your hearing. If passersby can hear Lil Jon screeching from your ears, it’s too loud. Most headphones' max volume is around 105 decibels. Normal talking is between 40 and 60 decibels. Ear health experts recommend keeping the volume on your player to 60 percent of max—the level of someone talking loudly—and limit it to about 60 minutes a day. Going longer? Just turn it down a notch.

Obey the rules. Many organized rides and races have rules against participating with music. Don’t be that guy who’s blissfully bopping along in ignorance. When the organizer says no ear doping, leave the tunes turned off.

Pluck those buds on social rides. Social rides by definition are rides where you’re there to enjoy the company of others. Wearing earbuds—even one—is a bit antisocial in these circumstances. Leave ‘em at home and enjoy the sights, sounds, and conversations of the ride.
 

Let us know what you think about riding with music below.

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Dealing with road rage!

Most riders in Lagos will agree with me when I say in Lagos we experience aggressive, inconsiderate, rude, uneducated, distracted, dangerous and plain incompetent drivers on the road everyday. However, does that call for road rage?  Hell no!

Motorcyclists are vulnerable road users and in road rage situations, we can easily come off second-best.

Road rage is violent, its immature, its offensive and yes its criminal. One could face serious charges. And with cameras in the vicinity , there may be some conclusive and damning evidence.

So what do we do when this truly immature and in-considerate driver gets in your face on the highway? 

Nothing!

Yea I said it... Sometimes we're full of vengeance and want to make this person feel as bad as you did. But really by doing that you put yourself in more danger. Banging on a door or windshield and smashing up his side mirrors don't make it go away. What he has done still stands. 

A friend of mine (Larry) was upset at someone's driving and rode up ahead to report to lastma officials who stopped the perpetrator to caution him. Now that is one way to go...

TIPS FOR HANDLING ROAD RAGE

    If you find yourself feeling unsafe as a result of the actions of another road user, the first priority is to remove yourself from the situation as safely as possible. Unfortunately far too often incidents of poor behaviour by one road user to another are only exacerbated when the ‘victim’ retaliates. If another party chooses to yell at you, beep their horn or flash their lights – so what? Let them get it out of their system and get on their way. Inflaming the situation by ‘biting back’ rarely assists, and often only makes the situation more unsafe for everyone.

    However if the other party continues to behave in a manner that makes you feel unsafe, then consider your environment. Perhaps pull into a service station, licensed premises or shopping centre. This will often discourage the aggressor from taking the matter further.

    If no such place is available, continue to ride at a safe distance without reacting to the aggressor until a place of safety is available to disengage from the situation as best and safely as you can.

    If you feel that you are in imminent danger, pull over or take a side street. I would have said call the cops at this point but we all know how that'll turn out.

    If you carry any kind of video recording device, ensure the footage is set aside so that it doesn’t get recorded over before being provided to an appropriate body. Make sure you don’t just secure the footage of the incident – also keep footage leading up to and beyond the incident to help clarify any potential counter claims by the other party that it was actually you that was the aggressor.

    If the situation is over, but you are still of the belief that the matter warrants investigation with a view to action by police, you always have the right to report it. You can either attend your nearest open police station to speak to someone, contact the general emergency  number which is 112 in Nigeria. 

    Be mindful, however that any complaint of an incident involving one person upon another without any supporting evidence is often difficult to successfully prosecute. Especially in Nigeria. A successful prosecution requires sufficient evidence being presented to a court to determine that an offence was committed 'beyond reasonable doubt'.

    However, this should not prevent you from reporting the matter, but is something to keep in mind if police determine there is not sufficient evidence for a matter to proceed. It doesn’t necessarily mean the police doesn’t believe you! If you provide the police force with a video recording you must be willing and able to give evidence.

Ride safe Pals...

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9 tips for staying comfortable on long motorcycle rides...

 

Pretty much any bike is comfortable for just a few minutes, but any bike can be torture if you have to spend hours in the saddle. Luckily, there are ways to address this. Below are a few tips on how to stay comfortable on long motorcycle rides.

1. Stretch

 

Stretch all your muscle groups before you ride. If you have the right riding gear — stuff that flexes with your body and allows full range of motion — you can even wear it while stretching.

If you took PE classes in secondary school, then you know how to stretch, the same techniques apply here.  Hold stretches for 30 seconds.

Start with your legs: touch your toes, spread your legs to twice shoulder high and and fold your torso down so your head points at the ground, then bend alternating knees, stretching the inside of your thighs. Stretch your quads by bending your knee while standing and pulling it up with your foot. Sit on the ground with the soles of your boots touching and do butterflies.
Your head and neck need attention too: roll your head around your shoulders. Stretch your back by reaching for the sky and your arms by pulling them behind your head and across your shoulders. All this gets you nice and limber for the hours in the saddle ahead.

2. Hydrate

 

Before you set out, drink water until you can't drink anymore. Then, top yourself up on the go. The goal is to urinate once every two hours, all day and for that urine to remain clear. If you’re off schedule or it starts turning dark, drink more. Riding a motorcycle, even just cruising down a highway in Nigeria, puts you outside in the elements, remaining adequately hydrated will prevent soreness from developing in your muscles and keep your mental acuity high. And we do mean water. Staying hydrated is better for energy and focus than sugary caffeinated drinks ever will be.

3. Dress Appropriately

 

No matter what the weather, there’s riding gear that will make you more comfortable in it. We all know what it can do in the rain and cold, but even in extreme heat, appropriate riding gear can allow your body to cool itself more effectively than simply exposing it to the wind. Ventilated or mesh gear controls the airflow around your body, giving the evaporative cooling effect time to work, rather than simply allowing the wind to blow the sweat off your body before it provides any cooling. There’s also cooling vests and other articles that soak up water, then keep you dry (they’re like diapers) while providing additional cooling. Or, you can just soak a scarf in water and achieve a cooling benefit from that too. You’ll also need to protect yourself from prolonged exposure to the sun.

4. Compress Your Muscles

 

Compression garments increase long term comfort and athletic performance by increasing the lymphatic and blood flow. It also holds muscles in place, isolating them from vibration, further preventing long-term soreness. A simple pair of bike shorts can work wonders over long distances and compression garments are now available for virtually your entire body. Wear them, they work.

5. Alter Your Ergonomics and Aerodynamics

 

Any stock motorcycle should only be considered an ergonomic starting point. This is as true for a Gold Wing as it is for an R6. You can achieve a surprising level of custom fit simply by rotating bars forward and backwards and levers up and down. Going further, you can fit different bars, different foot pegs and modify the seat to the taller, shorter, thinner, wider or to provide more padding or support.

The same goes for aerodynamics. A screen that works for one person, might create terminal vibration for another, seemingly identical rider. You can shim screen bolts, chop them down or purchase taller screens to tailor aerodynamics to your personal needs.

Find yourself on the road and in urgent need of a quick, easy ergonomic fix? Don’t be afraid to experiment. Duct tape, cardboard and spare clothing can be used to conjure up all sorts of comfort aids in a pinch.

6. Avoid Monkey Butt

 

Get a sweaty butt and you could experience chafing, or worse. This is what those skeepskin seat covers you see on GSs and Gold Wings are intended to prevent; they do so by helping air circulate around your backside. Duct taping a folded up towel to your seat can achieve a similar effect for free. I've heard people say talcum powder applied to your nether regions is a good idea too (never tried it).

7. Move Around

 

No matter how comfortable your bike may seem, sitting in one position for hours at a time is going to lead to sore-butt-itis. So move around. Be safe and don’t do this in places where you may need to make emergency evasive maneuvers, but long trips frequently see us sitting on the pillion seat, putting our feet on cylinder heads or other protruding parts or just standing up. The latter can help stretch your leg muscles and return blood flow to your back, feet and legs. Just be careful not to inadvertently tweak the throttle, foot controls or nudge the bars off course when you’re doing so. The gyroscopic force of the spinning wheels makes motorcycles extremely stable at highway speeds though, you can use that to your advantage.

8. Take A Break

 

There’s nothing wrong with just pulling over and taking a break. Go sit inside somewhere warm if it’s cold outside or cool if it’s hot. Drink some liquids; take your concentration away from riding and just chill out. The mental recuperation from even a short break might just be what you need to get home.

9. Finally! Exercise.

Much of the discomfort can be eliminated or at least minimized by strengthening your body even when you're not about to ride. Just as in riding horses, the motorcycle rider needs to be both strong and relaxed.

Core training can help a lot since by strengthening the core you can remove the pressure of holding up your body from your arms. Core training refers to strengthening the muscles that support the spine, muscles of the abdominals, the hips, and the back. A strong core also improves balance, which is always a good thing when riding a motorcycle.

Pilates provides a great core workout without the high impact risks associated with some other forms of exercise. After a few weeks of core strengthening you will find that you no longer get as fatigued in the seat as you did before.

During rides newer riders often tense up from fear or an attempt to improve their control of the motorcycle. Unfortunately, tension reduces the rider's control and speeds of the process of muscle fatigue. New riders should consciously think about relaxing every muscle in their body. In the beginning, take a mental inventory every ten minutes or so. If a muscle feels tight, force yourself to relax it and to breathe slowly and calmly. With time, your body will monitor itself, relaxing the muscles as they grow too tight. You can also help keep your blood flowing and avoid cramps by moving around. Stretch out your legs every so often. Turn your head and lean it from side to side to stretch your neck muscles. Shrug your shoulders and do some shoulder rolls. All these, keep the muscles loose.

After the ride, walk around for a few minutes. If you are taking a gas break or getting food, do a few lunges. Swing your arms around a few times. For many women especially a hot bath each night on long consecutive days of riding does wonders to relax the muscles, and prepare both the body and the mind for good sleep.

Finally finally, before, during, and after riding you must remain well hydrated. The experts say, by the time you feel thirst, you are on your way to being dehydrated. Dehydration causes aches and pains, it can reduce your awareness and your ability to make good decisions, and it can cause other serious and life threatening medical problems. Take time to drink plenty of water, not just on hot days, but everyday.

By spending some time to improve your fitness level you will avoid a lot of unnecessary discomfort while riding. Increased comfort means less distraction and that makes you a safer, better rider. And that is something we should all be aiming for. Isn't it?

Let us know how you stay comfortable in the comments section below...

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Target fixation; Making it work for you!

Ever heard of target fixation? 

Target fixation is an attentional phenomenon observed in humans in which an individual becomes so focused on an observed object (be it a target or hazard) that they inadvertently increase their risk of colliding with the object. 

For riders this occurs when a rider locks his/her focus of attention onto something, such as a piece of roadside furniture (a lamp stand, for example) and by so doing, increases his chances of crashing into it. This is responsible for a lot more motorcycle crashes than we care to admit, yet when one considers the thinness of a lamp stand, the thinness of the motorcycle and the usually large amount of clear space around a lamp stand, one has to ask, how come the rider impacted perfectly into the obstacle and couldn’t swerve/ride around it? Simple, the rider locked on the obstacle and this "aimed" his/her motorcycle at it.

Actually it is something a bit more than simply looking at the obstacle. What "aims" the bike is the rider’s focus of attention. Because it's a focus it becomes the dominant message for the brain and, consequently, all riding actions "focus" on this message. This means that if you look with your direct vision in a direction that will enable you to avoid a pothole, but focus on that pothole with your peripheral vision, you are most likely going right into that pothole.

The object the rider focuses on doesn’t need to be anything as concentrated as a large post, either. If a frightened rider focuses on the side of the road while trying to round a corner he thinks he isn’t going to make, the most likely result is that the rider will run off the road and crash. Mostly this occurs when the rider is entering a turn a bit too fast, and finds himself looking at the spot where he’d run off, instead of through the turn.

Riding experts talk a lot about how to avoid target fixation, but it is really difficult to stop fixating on a target or ignore impending danger. However, target fixation is not necessarily a negative thing. You can use it for good instead of evil, like steering your bike toward a corner exit, or around an obstacle.

Have you ever gone into a corner too hot? Yeah, all the time, right? What happens next is you tend to look at where you think your bike is going to go and that becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Be it positive or negative...

But what if you shift your gaze toward a more appropriate target? Say, for example, the exit of the corner. Chances are your body will shift stance slightly and you will steer toward the proper exit.

This is the main reason MotoGP riders always have their heads at a particular angle in curves.  

 

Notice Jorge's focus.

Notice where his eyes are focused.

It’s all about picking another target. One that is not going to end in tears. I’ve done it on several occasions to avoid danger, but it takes a bit of practice.

Red line: Wrong focus. Blue line: Right focus.

During one of your solo rides, pick a spot on a quiet stretch of road and find something like a mark on the road to act as your “obstacle”. Then find something nearby to refocus on.

Ride by and focus on hitting the first target. It won’t be difficult to hit it. Then ride by and focus on the first target, but refocus on the new target and watch your bike react.

 

This phenomenon isn’t peculiar to only motorcyclists. Drivers target-fixate too, although drunk and mentally fuzzy/tired drivers are more prone to this than alert and well-rested drivers. However, it can happen to anyone who finds themselves sitting back enjoying the ride when they're driving.

This is one reason emergency response tend to park their vehicles in such a way as to protect themselves and the scene on limited-access highways. It is not uncommon for drunks to target-fixate on the flashing lights of cop cars or ambulances and plough right into the back or side of the emergency response vehicle! This is a phenomenon well-known to cops, fire-fighters and EMS people.

This also helps to explain why American motor officers are trained to mount and dismount on what most US riders would consider to be the wrong side of the bike. When you're parked on the side of a busy road, it's safer to get on/off the bike from the right, since the moving cars are on the left side. 

Let us know how you combat target fixation in the comments section below...

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