Since few of us are masters of every aspect of motorcycling, we invariably experience bouts of low-level anxiety or even panic. According to experts from Legacy Healing in Fort Lauderdale center, anxiety mostly sucks, but it can also be a useful tool for helping you be a safer and more proficient motorcycle rider…if you pay attention.
From my article published in Motorcyclist Magazine:
“The best riders frequently check themselves for signs of stress and then act to regain relaxed composure so they can enjoy a safer and more gratifying ride. With anxiety out of the picture, they can also identify where the stress is coming from, whether that’s a lack of confidence in their ability or trepidation about a particularly risky environment, such as a rain-slick corner or a route riddled with dangerous intersections. Whatever the source, these riders use their awareness of stress to recognize their comfort limit and then back off so that anxiety does not affect control, safety, or fun.”
Too bad I couldn’t follow my own advice.
My Story
Recently, I’ve had a series of off-road mishaps of varying levels of severity that have messed with my Mojo.
I figured perhaps upgrading to a more capable and lighter machine would help. So, I sold the sturdy and rider-friendly KLX250/351s and bought a beautiful KTM450 XC-w. I never intended to buy the KTM, but the price was right, it was in a nearby town and it was sexy as hell.
I knew from the day I bought it that the 450 was more bike than I wanted or needed. It’s not that I didn’t think I could manage the power or the edgy handling, but the fact that it was a less rider-friendly bike made my anxiety worse. Ugh.
So, I remedied the situation by buying a Honda CRF250x. It’s the bike I should have bought in the first place. It’s more like a play bike than the KTM, but more capable than the KLX. Let’s see if that was the cure.
The Test
With the confidence of a less intimidating bike I went riding with my friend Paul at his local dirt track. This area features a motocross-type sand section and some tighter technical trail stuff with some steep drops and climbs, as well as log crossings. The last time I was at his track on the bigger KTM I managed to overcome the challenging sections, but with difficulty. Going in, I totally expected things to go easier on the 250x.
Turns out that the cure was not a different bike. Sure, it helped, but the anxiety was still there. I stared at a particularly scary looking traversing hill wondering WTF? I got past it and tackled the hill several times, but was tense and on the edge of panic much of the time. The rest of the course was easier, yet I still felt anxiety.
Paul, being the supportive friend he is, told me to slow down and just roll around. I was trying to ride the way I am used to riding…sliding the rear and zipping at a decent pace. Well, that was just adding to the anxiety. Once I slowed down to a novice pace, I started having fun and things went sooooo much better.
Emotions trump Logic
So, why wasn’t I able to follow my own advice as outlined in the Motorcyclist article? Because emotions tend to trump logic. I wanted so much to overcome the fear that I pushed on instead of doing what I tell my students…slow down to reset your sense of confidence and competence.
I’ve never been as confident off-road as on pavement or on the racetrack, so I tend to think of myself as a rookie rather than the reasonably competent dirt rider I really am. By slowing down, I am reminded of my true competence. This reinforces the positive. And the more I ride this way, the faster I substitute anxiety with confidence.
By riding in complete control at all times I am (re)building a solid foundation that then allows me to climb out of this rut. If I were to fruitlessly keep pushing without stepping back, I would surely dig the hole even deeper and just reinforce the hold anxiety has on me.
The Cure
I tell my on-street students at the beginning of the day that we will be riding well within their comfort zone, becasue they can’t learn and build confidence if they are using all their attention on managing anxiety. And when it comes to my track day students, I tell them that they gotta go slow to go fast.
Pressure to Measure
This all sounds like solid advice, but I can tell you that it’s not easy to follow. If you’re like me, you have an established image of yourself as someone who can manage the challenges of a typical dirt (or street) ride and not be so slow as to hold up the group’s pace.
I’m also competitive, which doesn’t help. I tend to ride fast when the right thing to do is hang back and not feel compelled to keep up.
The takeaway here is to listen to your anxiety and respect it for its attempt to alert you to SLOW DOWN. Instead of forcing yourself to tackle challenges with abandon, take it easy to build back your confidence.
Ignore your anxiety at your own peril. As the saying goes: check yourself before you wreck yourself.
Share your experiences in the comments section below.
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Check out these posts:
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- Get Anxiety & Stress Under Control (Motorcyclist)
- KLX250s Upgraded and Accessorized
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- Triumph Street Triple R Review
- How To Survive Mid-Corner Hazards
- #1 Reason for Motorcycle Crashes in Corners
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This was a good read. Thank you Ken.
Had a very bad wreck 5 years ago when a shuttle bus pulled out in front of me. Recovery was long and painful but I am riding again but I find my rides as tense and my confidence level at times is low. I have been on motorcycles for over 50 years and do not want to give it up. I have a good support group in the MC but still have riding anxiety. It is tough to overcome but I will not let it defeat me!
Two weekends ago I helped a friend with an equestrian obstacle course riding clinic. The instructor was quite remarkable. One thing she did with a horse having problems getting through an obstacle was to bring the horse to the very edge of its highest but still manageable point of fear, anxiety, she then held the horse in that position and got the horse to do something else, something it could do without fear and competently. After the horse performed what it could do in the face of what it could not do it began to overcome its fear of the initial obstacle and eventually went through the obstacle. It was a surprise for me to see this technique in equestrian training because it was a method I had used in situations with groups of people, advisory committees. It is a method very similar to what Ken describes here, slow down and do what you can do competently and then expand on that. It works in horses and committees too.
I could describe the reason I left riding 30 years ago as hyper anxiety, maybe, or maybe I just saw my number coming up and had to reset. My anxiety moment now comes when I think about a section of I-95 in Palm Beach County that is about 14 lanes wide total, has very slow traffic in exiting two lanes and fast traffic in the other 5, and it curves. So, I resolved my anxiety about this section of road by finding a route to avoid it until I’m ready to approach it on my own terms. Avoidance may not be the best way to deal with anxiety but it does open other doors, or rather find other routes which can be safer and more enjoyable which relieves my anxiety which is important to me and how I ride. Thanks Ken.
Thanks for sharing, jbd!
Enjoyed the article Ken. I rode/ raced dirt bikes since I was 13 and two years ago when I turned 50 I sold my last dirt bike after a scary / painful incident in the woods riding alone. After that incident I convinced myself I was too old to be riding fast in the woods and haven’t been on a dirt bike since. I do miss riding a dirt bike allot. Since then I started doing track days, being only a novice 13 year road bike rider, and have gained allot of experience and confidence on the track that has carried over to the street! That said, I may give the dirt bike rider in me another chance and just slow down a notch or two;)
Good timing on this article Ken. I’m just recovering from a tip over I
had at the track where I broke the weakest link “The collar bone”. Riding around on the street I suffered from anxiety of another possible mishap that might pop up around the next corner. My mojo shakened I forced myself to slow down and most important to me “breath”. Loosen up the death grip on the bars. End result-got my mojo back.
See you at Palmer
Great read Ken. Riding anxiety has all but pushed me away from riding on the street. I seldom do any more and seldom enjoy it like I used to. On the other hand I am completely comfortable on my dirt bike in the woods.