I'll try and get some pics or video up of the 'oh schit' moment. Basically someone low-sided right in front of me and another guy. So I got a real time opportunity to work on target fixation avoidance . And btw, if you're another rider in the area - DON'T STOP on the track! The guy in front of me damn near stopped and due to that I had to again change my line and ended up clipping the downed bike . Bent my rear brake lever, but nothing a hammer couldn't take care of. Anyway, guy low sides in front of me on a right hander. Guy in front of me goes high and I'm looking at this fella sliding along the ground up ahead... so I had to tell myself "QUIT LOOKING AT HIM"... look where I need to go, so I went high and then the guy in front of me slows to a creep and I'm coming up on him fast, so I then needed to take it down below him, but there's the low-sided bike so I am looking at it trying to avoid it.. and I clip it. But this is a good example of target fixation... one from the perspective of avoiding hitting the downed rider by looking 'where I needed to go' and then the other was when I started looking at the downed bike again due to the other guy slowing to a creep - what did I do... I clipped it. So what ever you're looking at, is likely where you gonna go. I guess it was better to clip the downed bike then to keep staring at the guy that almost stopped and riding right into him.
Anyway, here's some pics my friend shot. This was the first day on an R6 I picked up just for the track (#67). If I get a chance, I'll dub some video of the low-side guy... I had my GoPro on the tail of my bike, so I caught some footage of it.
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Nice pics Donnie. Bad day for the BMW boys. There were three of them running and two of them went down. I almost went down after the front straight. I was passing on the inside and the rear of the bike began to swap. The rear of the bike bounced left, right, left, right, left and then i was lucky enough to save it. I had the bike in sport mode and was running melted q2's. I've been riding along time and have never experienced this before, I was lucky or it was the traction control?
I'll try and get some pics or video up of the 'oh schit' moment. Basically someone low-sided right in front of me and another guy. So I got a real time opportunity to work on target fixation avoidance . And btw, if you're another rider in the area - DON'T STOP on the track! The guy in front of me damn near stopped and due to that I had to again change my line and ended up clipping the downed bike . Bent my rear brake lever, but nothing a hammer couldn't take care of. Anyway, guy low sides in front of me on a right hander. Guy in front of me goes high and I'm looking at this fella sliding along the ground up ahead... so I had to tell myself "QUIT LOOKING AT HIM"... look where I need to go, so I went high and then the guy in front of me slows to a creep and I'm coming up on him fast, so I then needed to take it down below him, but there's the low-sided bike so I am looking at it trying to avoid it.. and I clip it. But this is a good example of target fixation... one from the perspective of avoiding hitting the downed rider by looking 'where I needed to go' and then the other was when I started looking at the downed bike again due to the other guy slowing to a creep - what did I do... I clipped it. So what ever you're looking at, is likely where you gonna go. I guess it was better to clip the downed bike then to keep staring at the guy that almost stopped and riding right into him.
Anyway, here's some pics my friend shot. This was the first day on an R6 I picked up just for the track (#67). If I get a chance, I'll dub some video of the low-side guy... I had my GoPro on the tail of my bike, so I caught some footage of it.
Glad you're okay, dude. Bike looks good!
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'08 Ducati Hypermotard S
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Nice pics Donnie. Bad day for the BMW boys. There were three of them running and two of them went down. I almost went down after the front straight. I was passing on the inside and the rear of the bike began to swap. The rear of the bike bounced left, right, left, right, left and then i was lucky enough to save it. I had the bike in sport mode and was running melted q2's. I've been riding along time and have never experienced this before, I was lucky or it was the traction control?
Wow... didn't realize the S1's went down. So one was Sandia BMW's, right? I saw another w/a fully taped windscreen... so both of those went down? I knew of three others (wrecks)... so that would make five for the day. Another happened right before the double apex. I was behind another fella on the left hander before the double apex right and decided to run the left a little high to give me a chance to get by the guy figuring I'd be hitting the double apex a little tight but figured I'd be OK. There was another bike right around us (I think) and they ended up missing the double apex right and went straight off the track. I wasn't sure if I contributed (hope not)... as the pass was clean. Looked like he might have kept it upright.
You're episode sounds ugly - glad you saved it!
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Target fixation is a very common rider error and it is hard to avoid sometimes. Our brains just see danger and tend to stare at it even though it is the worst thing for us to do. I'm glad you managed to avoid crashing yourself but it sounds like even thoughg you were looking where you wanted to go you still fixated a little bit on the rider in front of you.
Do you think there is anything you could have done differently that might have prevented you from hitting the downed rider?
Are there things that we can do to prevent our eyes from target fixating on dangerous stuff or ways to teach ourselves to react better?
Misti
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"Leap and the net will appear!"
Target fixation is a very common rider error and it is hard to avoid sometimes. Our brains just see danger and tend to stare at it even though it is the worst thing for us to do. I'm glad you managed to avoid crashing yourself but it sounds like even thoughg you were looking where you wanted to go you still fixated a little bit on the rider in front of you.
Do you think there is anything you could have done differently that might have prevented you from hitting the downed rider?
Are there things that we can do to prevent our eyes from target fixating on dangerous stuff or ways to teach ourselves to react better?
Misti
Indeed... I certainly target fixated on the rider for a split second... and after reviewing my video (which I'll post tonight), you can see a twitch in the bike from when I was starting to lean into the turn to when I brought it up then it twitched (down then back up)... That was where my eyes were starting to lock onto the downed rider and when I told myself to QUIT IT ! Once I looked away, things started to work out much nicer... until the rider in front of me decided to damn near stop and bottle neck my exit . Then I had to thread the needle between him and the downed bike.
Not sure what else I could have done to avoid the rider except what I ended up doing (looked away)... that being said, looking away sooner would certainly have given me more time to plan and execute my exit/avoidance strategy.
I would certainly be interested in training aids or things we can do on the track to help look away sooner and teach ourselves to react better. I feel good about my end result, but know I could have reacted sooner. What do you have for help?
__________________
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Indeed... I certainly target fixated on the rider for a split second... and after reviewing my video (which I'll post tonight), you can see a twitch in the bike from when I was starting to lean into the turn to when I brought it up then it twitched (down then back up)... That was where my eyes were starting to lock onto the downed rider and when I told myself to QUIT IT ! Once I looked away, things started to work out much nicer... until the rider in front of me decided to damn near stop and bottle neck my exit . Then I had to thread the needle between him and the downed bike.
Not sure what else I could have done to avoid the rider except what I ended up doing (looked away)... that being said, looking away sooner would certainly have given me more time to plan and execute my exit/avoidance strategy.
I would certainly be interested in training aids or things we can do on the track to help look away sooner and teach ourselves to react better. I feel good about my end result, but know I could have reacted sooner. What do you have for help?
Looking away sooner would definitely help, or not allowing your eyes to get focussed on the rider in front of you, for even a split second in the first place would be even better. They call it target fixation or tunnel vision for a reason right So what happened to your field of vision when you got stuck on the rider in front of you? It narrowed down a little bit didn't it and you lost sight of all the available space left around the rider. Imagine if you were able to keep your vision nice and wide the entire time so that you notice the rider going down but also see all the available space around him that you could use to get by.....
What are some ways you could practice keeping your vision open wider? How much of the track do you usually "see" while riding?
Misti
__________________
"Leap and the net will appear!"
Not sure how much of the track I see I'll have to pay attention next time. That being said, I definitely think that time and experience, hence building confidence, would greatly aid in increasing your vision and ability not to target fixate. This past Sunday was my 3rd time to a track and I could tell I was beginning to get more comfortable... So, right now, I'm sure I'm not seeing as much of the track as the fast riders out there, but that will come with time I'm sure. My guess is that in order to keep your field of vision wider and avoid locking onto the downed rider at all that you would make a greater effort to maintain visual on your line, your exit, and keep the bikes/riders around you in peripheral and not allow them to be the focus of your vision... I know I tend to start locking in on riders/bikes when I get behind them and I try and look around and out in front of them... takes practice for sure!
Suggestions in accelerating my learning ????
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____________________________ HUGE Thanks to my Race Sponsors!!
Indeed... I certainly target fixated on the rider for a split second... and after reviewing my video (which I'll post tonight), you can see a twitch in the bike from when I was starting to lean into the turn to when I brought it up then it twitched (down then back up)... That was where my eyes were starting to lock onto the downed rider and when I told myself to QUIT IT ! Once I looked away, things started to work out much nicer... until the rider in front of me decided to damn near stop and bottle neck my exit . Then I had to thread the needle between him and the downed bike.
Not sure what else I could have done to avoid the rider except what I ended up doing (looked away)... that being said, looking away sooner would certainly have given me more time to plan and execute my exit/avoidance strategy.
I would certainly be interested in training aids or things we can do on the track to help look away sooner and teach ourselves to react better. I feel good about my end result, but know I could have reacted sooner. What do you have for help?
It's very hard to not look at a rider or his bike when they crash in front of you. I had my video going at Thunder Hill when a rider went down right in front of me and I had to force myself to look between the rider and his bike.Thunder Hill crash
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Target Fixation and some Track Day Pics
. And btw, if you're another rider in the area - DON'T STOP on the track! The guy in front of me damn near stopped and due to that I had to again change my line and ended up clipping the downed bike 
. Bent my rear brake lever, but nothing a hammer couldn't take care of. Anyway, guy low sides in front of me on a right hander. Guy in front of me goes high and I'm looking at this fella sliding along the ground up ahead... so I had to tell myself "QUIT LOOKING AT HIM"... look where I need to go, so I went high and then the guy in front of me slows to a creep and I'm coming up on him fast, so I then needed to take it down below him, but there's the low-sided bike so I am looking at it trying to avoid it.. and I clip it. But this is a good example of target fixation... one from the perspective of avoiding hitting the downed rider by looking 'where I needed to go' and then the other was when I started looking at the downed bike again due to the other guy slowing to a creep - what did I do... I clipped it. So what ever you're looking at, is likely where you gonna go. I guess it was better to clip the downed bike then to keep staring at the guy that almost stopped and riding right into him. 
! Once I looked away, things started to work out much nicer... until the rider in front of me decided to damn near stop and bottle neck my exit 
I'll have to pay attention next time. That being said, I definitely think that time and experience, hence building confidence, would greatly aid in increasing your vision and ability not to target fixate. This past Sunday was my 3rd time to a track and I could tell I was beginning to get more comfortable... So, right now, I'm sure I'm not seeing as much of the track as the fast riders out there, but that will come with time I'm sure. My guess is that in order to keep your field of vision wider and avoid locking onto the downed rider at all that you would make a greater effort to maintain visual on your line, your exit, and keep the bikes/riders around you in peripheral and not allow them to be the focus of your vision... I know I tend to start locking in on riders/bikes when I get behind them and I try and look around and out in front of them... takes practice for sure! 
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