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Copyright © 2000 by M. Hilton Taylor. All Rights Reserved by T.A.M.S. It ain’t rocket science . . . is it. |
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What is reading the road? It is basically understanding what you are seeing and learning how you should react to it. You may hear many descriptions that describe the road so a little information and understanding is helpful. What you see here is not an intensive study of riding skills or definitions to make you a knee dragging road racer, but more to let you know these things exist. I think everyone knows what a curve is but did you know there are different kinds of curves and they actually have names. They won’t be named Bob or Joe, but they do have names that describe their characteristics. A constant radius turn is nothing more than a curve that resembles a half of a perfectly round circle. It is a curve you would normally spend a lot of time in and require a longer period of attention. It is not the most common and they can be tight or sweeping. You will also feel the g-forces for a longer period of time. G-force is like being the ball on the end of a string when it is spun in a circle. A decreasing radius turn is a turn that gets sharper the further into the turn you get. They have a tendency to slip up on you because they start out looking like a constant radius and all of a sudden they make you pucker up like you had some bad lemonade. They force you to lean the bike even further and make you feel like you are going too fast. Don’t panic! Just keep turning the bike into the turn and you will make the turn. An increasing radius turn, you guessed it, is the opposite of a decreasing turn. It is a turn that appears to be sharp and then opens up into a turn that requires less lean. These are great when you go into a turn thinking you are going too fast. Apex is not a turn but is included in every turn. It is the point in the turn where you actually change direction from forward to right or left. In common language it is the point (theoretically) where you can see the entrance and the exit of the turn. When you learn to recognize where that point exist in a given turn, it will make riding the curves much easier. A line (not the one painted on the highway) is the path you would take through a given turn. You want to ride straight as long as possible, turn quickly, the go straight again. That is your line. It is very much like walking through a door. Your line would be to walk straight to the door and once you start through the door you can see where you want to go. You then turn and walk straight to where you want to go. A simple concept, that takes some riding practice to become proficient. There are other items on the road that exist that you will need to be able to recognize easily. These are items like oil, antifreeze, painted lines, and road snakes to mention a few. What are they and how do you recognize them at 60 mph in the bright sunlight? Most of us know what oil is and how it looks, but on the roadway it can “slip up on you”. No pun intended. Oil in the road may not look like a little puddle or even look thick. It may have soaked into the pavement but it will still be very slick. Accelerating or braking while in oil can become more exciting than an amusement park roller coaster. One trick is to know where you have the highest or lowest risk of encountering oil. The center line of you lane would be where most of the oil would be, but not always. Always look where you will be stopping for any signs of fluids that may be where you have to put your feet down. What is slicker than oil? Antifreeze!! It will put down quicker than a self-centered snoot at a class reunion. On the road it is usually found near the center of the lane and looks like water that is kind of greasy looking. It is not your friend! When you ride in areas that have a lot of RV traffic, there is a good chance you will find some antifreeze from overheating engines. A little tip . . . it is more frequently on the uphill side of grades. Painted lines are good for indicating where your side of the road is or if you lean on them too hard in the rain . . . they can put you on either side of the road. In the rain the painted lines can become very slick and if you are leaned over too far may put your bike into a skid. They are not a major road hazard when riding in the rain, but you should be aware they can become a problem in certain circumstances. Have you ever seen a road snake? Do you know what a road snake looks like? Well, it is the ribbons of asphalt that seep out of the gravel roads and where tar has been used to fill in holes in the roadway. They are called snakes because the usually are curvy looking. These are deceiving because they can become very slick when the sun is beating down and heating up the asphalt. They can be hard to avoid, so the best advice is to be aware and ride carefully when the sun is bright and the road is winding. Speaking of sun . . . the hotter the sun the greasier the road can get. It does not affect concrete roads as much as asphalt but it can affect both. It can also bring oils etc up to the surface. Usually not a problem, but under the right conditions it can become a hazard. Another thing to remember is that roads are usually the slickest during the first part of a rain storm. That is when all if the slick stuff starts coming to the surface and has not had time to wash away.
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