The phrase 'Look Up The Road' was inspired after I read a great riding book 'SPORT RIDING TECHNIQUES' by Nick Ienatsch.
Below are some excerpts from Nick's book:
'The first time I met Eddie Lawson was at Laguna Seca Raceway back in 1986. We'd asked Eddie to come and coach us for a Motorcyclist story. and we spent the day circling Laguna ahead of and behind Eddie-mostly behind. At that time he had won two national Superbike championships and two world 500GP championships, and one of the main points he kept emphasizing was "look up the road."
"Most riders focus just ahead of their front wheel," Eddie said, "and that gives an incredible sense of speed because the ground's rushing past really fast. If you get your eyes up and look farther up the road, everything slows down, and you don't feel as overwhelmed by the speed." The best illustration of this is to imagine riding alongside a white picket fence. Look directly over at the fence and it races by in a blur of white, but look farther ahead and you can pick out individual pickets. You're still moving at the same speed, but you've simply refocused your gaze farther ahead. From this you learn a simple equation: Distance equals time.
By looking up the road or through the corner, you'll reduce your perceived speed and give yourself more time to make the proper decisions and control inputs. It's a racer's technique and will make a huge difference in your sport riding.
"Riders who don't look up the road enough will always be late on the throttle," Eddie went on, "because by the time they realize it's okay to accelerate, they've been out of the corner for quite a while." Of course, picking up the throttle early in the corner is important to a racer, but it's an important technique for street riders as well. If your focus is too close to your front tire, you can lose your place on the road or in the corner, and everything you do will be poorly timed and awkward.'
I highly recommend all motorcycle riders to read 'SPORT RIDING TECHNIQUES'. Whatever your current riding abilities are, Nick will teach you to safely find the absolute limit of your bike and yourself ....
Below are some excerpts from Nick's book:
'The first time I met Eddie Lawson was at Laguna Seca Raceway back in 1986. We'd asked Eddie to come and coach us for a Motorcyclist story. and we spent the day circling Laguna ahead of and behind Eddie-mostly behind. At that time he had won two national Superbike championships and two world 500GP championships, and one of the main points he kept emphasizing was "look up the road."
"Most riders focus just ahead of their front wheel," Eddie said, "and that gives an incredible sense of speed because the ground's rushing past really fast. If you get your eyes up and look farther up the road, everything slows down, and you don't feel as overwhelmed by the speed." The best illustration of this is to imagine riding alongside a white picket fence. Look directly over at the fence and it races by in a blur of white, but look farther ahead and you can pick out individual pickets. You're still moving at the same speed, but you've simply refocused your gaze farther ahead. From this you learn a simple equation: Distance equals time.
By looking up the road or through the corner, you'll reduce your perceived speed and give yourself more time to make the proper decisions and control inputs. It's a racer's technique and will make a huge difference in your sport riding.
"Riders who don't look up the road enough will always be late on the throttle," Eddie went on, "because by the time they realize it's okay to accelerate, they've been out of the corner for quite a while." Of course, picking up the throttle early in the corner is important to a racer, but it's an important technique for street riders as well. If your focus is too close to your front tire, you can lose your place on the road or in the corner, and everything you do will be poorly timed and awkward.'
I highly recommend all motorcycle riders to read 'SPORT RIDING TECHNIQUES'. Whatever your current riding abilities are, Nick will teach you to safely find the absolute limit of your bike and yourself ....