Hardest part of highway riding…
Feb 9th, 2012 by CityBiker1
[A nice save by an SV rider...]
The hardest part of long highway trips isn’t the speed, it isn’t the cornering, or even maintaining good lane position (that keeps you clear of crazy drivers…) The hardest part is paying attention, not zoning out while you’re going straight for hours on end… This isn’t really a citybiking problem, there’s not much time to zone out around the city – but a quick (two hour) trip to PA or Jersey can send one’s mind to lala land. So what do you do to stay sharp while on the long boring slabs of concrete we call highways?
Here’s what I do:
1. The first tip to avoid zoning out is to simply realize that THIS is the biggest danger… While you’re watching out for oil strips, and crazy drivers, you can also watch out for the zombie power of US highways clawing over you…
2. Make sure you’re comfortable and well-rested! It’s easier to pay attention when you’re not tired. So stop staying up so late watching Seinfeld, and get to bed at a decent hour if you’re planning a long highway ride the next day. Also make sure you’re dressed well for the ride: too hot or too cold makes it easier to zone out.
3. Take local roads… Especially if you didn’t get #2 right. Yeah it takes longer, but it’s often a lot more interesting…
4. Vary your speed. I’m not saying you ought to be GhostRider… but varying your speed and passing cars while slabbing it can keep you more alert than just tucking in behind a minivan. But do keep an eye out for the po-po. That’s not a bad thing though – keeping an eye out will help keep you alert to traffic and road conditions.
5. Pull over, take a break, hit up the rest stops… Yeah, so what you bragged about how quickly you can get to Philly on your bike? And so what if it takes you a little longer than your buddy with three kids in his Caravan? At least you get to try to McDonalds baked apple pies and Starbucks, and compare the benefits and drawbacks of each of the almost identical looking rest stops…
So how do you deal with long trips on the highway? Share the wealth in the comments sections!
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I hate riding on the highway for all the reasons you describe, particularly in this area where the roads are so terrible. Besides the fact it’s boring, it’s damn dangerous.
In November, I was driving back from Connecticut on my bonneville and hit a pothole on the Cross Bronx Expressway that must have been enormous. I’m pretty sure I went airborne as the impact upon landing and the ensuing wobble was, to put it mildly, terrifying.
I’m a nube to highway riding, so maybe you can straighten me out on this one, but wouldn’t it have been better to go right than left? I know you don’t want to pass on the right if you can avoid it, but the right lanes looked clear to me… I agree with your post that cornering on the highway is the hardest part – of the things you can control of course – and good throttle control seems to be pretty important for maintaining lane position. Am I right on both of those points?
Yeah it’s hard to turn quickly after going straight for a long time; even for people who’ve been riding a while… He probably would have been better off going to the right – but I don’t know if he could see that once he started swerving. Also he said on his youtube page that he accidentally locked his real wheel braking (I’ve done that too) so he probably didn’t have much time to think.
There was some riding book that said something about always planning ‘escape routes’ when you’re on the highway: if that car were to suddenly stop or swerve, where could you go? I guess that’s a good mental practice too…
I hate the cross bronx… And with the slower moving traffic where cars are closer to each other, it’s sometimes impossible to see the potholes with a car ahead of you… From CT, if I need to get to the West Side, I usually take the Cross County up by Yonkers (although you wind up hitting a toll for the Henry Hudson – there’s a local road around that adding 10 minutes), nicer ride with no trucks.
I know an older rider on a Harley who managed to bend his forks on his first ride on the Cross Bronx… Glad you managed ok!
I ride on highways all the time – never had any problems. I usually keep good distance from the cars in front of me, only occasionally going closer on the highways I know very well. In my opinion it’s also a good idea to go slightly faster than the rest of the traffic – this way you have less a chance to be hit from behind and less a chance you’ll be in someone’s blind spot for too long.
I do agree with all of the above points and just to want to add my five cents. I go faster than the traffic and once I get to a point where there are no cars from all sides I slow down and just cruise. When I see cars gathering around me, I go faster until I find another bubble. This technique works for me to keep things interesting.