Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Vision Exercise

I've thought about mounting an onboard camera on my motorbike, but the resolution of the cameras that's available don't do the ride justice and they're on the expensive side. The objective of the video below is to keep your eyes focused on an imaginary 1-inch by 1-inch square in the middle of the screen. Laterally, your peripheral vision should pick up more information than that's needed without moving your head. If you're able to make out the faces of the spectators, or read the signs on the storefronts, the odds are you'd doing too much sightseeing to avoid a crash. Also, try see if you're able to make out whether an approaching turn is a left-hand turn or a right-hand turn before you actually reach the entry point. Up to 1:46 in the video there's a leading rider to lock on, but after that, the bike which is shooting the video passes the lead rider and there's nothing for your eyes to trace and you'll have to chart your own course. Another thing, it's against the rules to blink. Obviously, I wouldn't ride this fast on my own bike as these professional racers are in a race that took place on the Isle of Man where they sweep the turns at 80+ mph and attain speeds of 200-mph on the straightaways. I have a strong hunch too that the riders don't afford themselves the luxury of thinking about what they saw on tv the night before, or immerse their minds in any form of internal dialogue. (warning: video has sound.)

2 comments:

Kay said...

Holy s...! That is scary!

RONW said...

Kay- definitely for the pros. Don't try this at home.