"You're not as good as your best game..."

[The Spin Doctor]

Here's a short self-improvement article I wrote some 18 months back...

"You're not as good as your best game... you're only as good as your worst game."

I wrote it after watching an NFL game. The New York Jets had entered the game with high hopes of qualifying for the playoffs for the first time in years. They needed a win to stay in the hunt for the playoff spot. And they had high hopes of being led there by an inexperienced but talented young quarterback. Before the game, everyone was talking about how promising Mike White looked. After the game everyone was talking about badly he'd played in the season-ending loss against the Seattle Seahawks.

"You're only ever as good as your worst game", and this was the worst of Mike White's short career by far.

OK, you may not be an NFL fan but in that statement there is a metaphor for how we should assess ourselves when we're riding. All too often we are proud of our strengths - we just passed the bike test, we achieved an advanced qualification, the BikeSafe guy just told us we were a good rider or we got to the end of a tricky ride.

But we tend to gloss over, even ignore, our weaknesses.

We don't pay any attention to the dozen minor faults the DVSA examiner marked on the sheet, we just see the pass. We tend to ignore the constructive criticism that came with the advanced test report, we just see the pass. We tend not to blank out the not-so-great moments on our BikeSafe assessment. We don't remember the bits of our latest ride where we cocked up (assuming we've been able to identify them in the first place), we only remember the bits we did well.

Now, whilst it's important NOT to downplay our strengths and abilities (that's something I wrote about the following week when discussing how to overcome 'imposter syndrome') what we need to recognise is that we too are only as good as our worst riding. It doesn't matter if we got nine bends or overtakes right, what matters is the tenth we got badly wrong. But we all have a natural tendency to gloss over those errors since they appear to be exceptions to the rule, not "how I really ride". The problem is, it's these 'anomalies' that tend to kill us.

The obvious answer is "get some qualified help" but as my columns are about self-help, what can we do without heading off to a professional for an assessment? How do we go about identifying personal weaknesses in our riding?

ASK - we can start by asking people. Try ask riding buddies for honest feedback on what they think are our strengths and weaknesses. But there are issues. Firstly, not many of us are keen on exposing ourselves to what we might see as criticism. Secondly, we have to be willing to listen to that criticism and then think about it objectively, and that's not as easy as it sounds either - I've had trainees turn up for a course where they "just want someone to run an eye over my riding and tell me what I could improve" who then promptly argue with me when I give them my feedback. And thirdly, we have to be reasonably confident that the person we're asking has enough personal insight to be helpful. If we struggle to assess ourselves, then our peers frequently aren't much given to having insights into better riding either. Statements like "you could have got round that corner faster" or even "you were off-line into that bend" aren't much help without an explanation of just how we could correct the errors.

REFLECT - in some ways a more reliable method is to cast your mind back and think about the areas of riding where you struggled or felt unsure of yourself. Try to identify patterns. Do you get stressed by speed? Wet roads? Narrow lanes? Motorways? Riding with others? By identifying particular issues which consistently cause us to struggle, or even areas of riding which we tend to avoid will suggest the areas where we're not confident in our ability to cope, and in turn may well reveal areas where we need to improve.

RECORD - if you know that you're having problems but finding it difficult to pin down the specific issue, it may be helpful to keep a journal where you write down your thoughts and feelings after each ride. It doesn't have to be War and Peace, but making a regular record that reminds us "I enjoyed that bit, I didn't like that, and at a specific moment I was genuinely worried" for each ride can help us become more self-aware. What's more, seemingly random issues may emerge as part of a pattern. That can help us identify the underlying areas where we struggle. Just jot down what you were doing at the time.


================
RIDING PROBLEMS? ONLINE COACHING AVAILABLE NOW
Want to discover the Survival Skills approach to
improving biking skills? Can't find the right time?
Live too far away? THERE'S NOW A SOLUTION!
An INEXPENSIVE option from Survival Skills that will
help you pinpoint areas for self-improvement.
A Survival Skills ONLINE COACHING SESSION!
One hour one-to-one on a topic of your choice
and all for just £40 PER SESSION! SIGN UP NOW:
https://form.jotformeu.com/20552775381355
================

================
GET THE BOOK THAT OFFERS STEP-BY-STEP HELP
There are many books on advanced riding but only one
that gives you a DIY guide to improving your technique.
That's 'Survival SKILLS' from Survival Skills Rider Training.
Each section covers not just theory, but concludes with
some straightforward PRACTICAL EXERCISES to help you
put the theory into practice in a logical, progressive way.
From a qualified and experienced advanced rider coach
'Survival SKILLS' is a 21st century guide to advanced riding.
It's an advanced BIKE COURSE... but in a BOOK!
Order TODAY from: https://tinyurl.com/ywu52ay3
================

GOALS - once you have identified areas that could stand some improvement, set specific goals. Doing this gives us a specific focus for improvement. BUT... this is probably one of the toughest areas for self-improvement because each goal has to be achievable. It's all very well saying "I want to corner better" but unless we understand all the individual steps that get us round a bend in the first place, it's hard to see which issue is actually tripping us up. For example, I'd say a good 50% of the riders who say "I'm not fast enough in corners" are perfectly quick enough IN the bend, but roll off the throttle way too early because they have no confidence in getting their speed right BEFORE they enter the bend - so they are over-cautious on the approach, and end up watching their riding buddies disappear around the bend ahead... which leads them to think "I must be too slow in the bend". So if your error is arriving too fast at the bend and still trying to slow down, work on getting speed off earlier. Once we see ourselves starting to achieve our goals, that motivates us to continue to work to improve our performance. If you identify your problem but don't know how to achieve your goal, then a book like my 'Survival SKILLS' DIY advanced riding manual has not just the theory, but simple PRACTICAL exercises to work into your everyday riding. See the link.

CRITIQUE - once we start trying to get improve our riding, it's not enough to simply think about what we did better this time round. We also need to objectively think about how we approached any particular part of the riding task and how we dealt with the challenges set by our latest ride. Yes, we should certainly take on board what we did well, because that's showing improvement. But we also need to consider what we could have done differently where we didn't perform so well. This needs to become a habit.

MONITOR - comparing what you did well and what wasn't so good over a period of time is what allows us to set the scale by which we monitor improvement. Whether that's to 'be as good as my mates' or working towards advanced test standard, when we keep track of our our progress towards our goals, we can see where and how things are getting better and if there are still areas that need work. This will help us stay on track. And if we're not making the progress we'd hope, we can adjust our approach as necessary. Many racers keep journals about how they perform at particular tracks to remind themselves of what they have previously worked on and improved. We can do the same. Referring backwards can help us measure our improvement.

REALISM - want to get better? REALLY want to get better? Then it's crucial that you approach everything with an honest and open mind, or none of this will give the desired results. For example, if we run into a corner too quickly but just manage to get round it, that's not something we should be chalking up in the plus column and claim is an example of our 'skills', it's in the negative column as an example of an error that needed an emergency fix. The fact we corrected is is positive, but we should never have made the mistake in the first place. Far too many riders overestimate their ability because they survived errors. Remember that line from the commentator. "You're not as good as your best game. You're only as good as your worst game." One bad game won't finish Mike White's career, but it has posed some questions. If he continues to have bad games, he'll be dropped.

Remember that line from the commentator. "You're not as good as your best game. You're only as good as your worst game."

One bad game won't finish Mike White's career, but it has posed some questions. If he continues to have bad games, he'll be dropped. And if we continue to have bad days on the road, one day we'll fly into that corner too fast and we WON'T get out of trouble.

UPDATE - at the end of the 2022 season the Jets traded White to the Miami Dolphins where he didn't start a game in the 2023 season.

[Horse]

All too often we are proud of our strengths - we just passed the bike test, we achieved an advanced qualification, the BikeSafe guy just told us we were a good rider or we got to the end of a tricky ride.

But we tend to gloss over, even ignore, our weaknesses.

Coincidentally, saw this today:



FWIW, I would usually get trainees to complete their own marking sheet. It would be after review / reflection, discussion, then moderation against desired levels. And I had the final decision - but it never came to that.

[Hot_Air]

@The Spin Doctor I tried recommending you to a friend, but what's happening with your website? Once upon a time, it detailed the various course options, including what each covered, the prices and when they did and didn't run. But all that's disappeared! Nowadays, do you need to roll up a trouser leg and a secret handshake to find out about your various courses?

https://www.survivalskills.co.uk/

[Dickyboy]

And your worst game can have terrible consequences, in case we need any reminders, 5 riders died in Derbyshire this weekend. Ride safe guys & girls.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crlrjyx0e60o

[Yorick]

And your worst game can have terrible consequences, in case we need any reminders, 5 riders died in Derbyshire this weekend. Ride safe guys & girls.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crlrjyx0e60o

I saw that and sadly, I think we might know contributing factors.

[mangocrazy]

Buxton (and the Buxton-Macclesfield road in particular) is a magnet for bikers. I stay away from it/them unless absolutely necessary.

[iansoady]

I'm fortunate in that I can ride during the week - for reasons above I try to avoid weekends when the power rangers come out to play.

[The Spin Doctor]

@The Spin Doctor I tried recommending you to a friend, but what's happening with your website? Once upon a time, it detailed the various course options, including what each covered, the prices and when they did and didn't run. But all that's disappeared! Nowadays, do you need to roll up a trouser leg and a secret handshake to find out about your various courses?

https://www.survivalskills.co.uk/

Honestly? Thank Google! Ever since 1993 or 94, I've hand-rolled HTML. It's always kept my site up on either the first or second page on Google. Last year I noticed it was slipping as Google started to prioritise sites that spend cash on advertising with them.

I rebuilt the website to the latest standards, followed various of the G guidelines - and it instantly dropped totally out of sight.

Whilst I puzzled over what I'd obviously missed, I rushed up www.survivalskillsridertraining.co.uk using an online site editor.

I've been trying to rebuild the original survivalskills.co.uk pages all spring and summer, but one thing after another has got in the way.

[The Spin Doctor]

They aren't the only fatals in Derbyshire this month. There was a twin fatality on Sunday 11 Aug too, on the A57 Holden Clough stretch of Snake Pass. That seems to have been a bike-only crash. The riders - two men both riding Ducatis - died at the scene.

Obviously, the police statements offer no information about what happened, and that's what the short press reports into the two crashes are based on - to find out, we'll have to wait for the inquests.

But how do three riders on three bikes all have the same fatal crash? They too were riding Ducatis.

[Rockburner]

But how do three riders on three bikes all have the same fatal crash? They too were riding Ducatis.

Quite easily: one scenario that instantly springs to mind is 3 bikes closely following each other going round a fast flowing left with trees on the near side which obscure a broken down combine or truck, and an oncoming large vehicle or car. If you can't imagine the following few seconds then I'd say you shouldn't be riding fast...


Oh - and yes, vehicles DO break down in the most dangerous of positions: I've experienced it myself, luckily without repercussion.

[The Spin Doctor]

But how do three riders on three bikes all have the same fatal crash? They too were riding Ducatis.

Quite easily: one scenario that instantly springs to mind is 3 bikes closely following each other going round a fast flowing left with trees on the near side which obscure a broken down combine or truck, and an oncoming large vehicle or car. If you can't imagine the following few seconds then I'd say you shouldn't be riding fast...


Oh - and yes, vehicles DO break down in the most dangerous of positions: I've experienced it myself, luckily without repercussion.

Absolutely.

Perhaps I should have said "how do three riders have such an imagination failure that they all have the same crash?"

[Rockburner]

But how do three riders on three bikes all have the same fatal crash? They too were riding Ducatis.

Quite easily: one scenario that instantly springs to mind is 3 bikes closely following each other going round a fast flowing left with trees on the near side which obscure a broken down combine or truck, and an oncoming large vehicle or car. If you can't imagine the following few seconds then I'd say you shouldn't be riding fast...


Oh - and yes, vehicles DO break down in the most dangerous of positions: I've experienced it myself, luckily without repercussion.

Absolutely.

Perhaps I should have said "how do three riders have such an imagination failure that they all have the same crash?"

Again: pretty damn simple question to answer: "Because they're far too busy enjoying themselves".

Not saying anything at all about their skills or experience levels. Some of the most experienced, and highly trained riders have bloody stupid crashes, mainly because they believe they are riding in a "safe" manner, and become complacent.

[Hot_Air]

I rushed up www.survivalskillsridertraining.co.uk using an online site editor.

I've been trying to rebuild the original survivalskills.co.uk pages all spring and summer, but one thing after another has got in the way.

It’s horrendously confusing for a potential customer, so you're undoubtedly losing business. But I guess you know that already. I hope you manage to sort it out soon!

[The Spin Doctor]

I rushed up www.survivalskillsridertraining.co.uk using an online site editor.

I've been trying to rebuild the original survivalskills.co.uk pages all spring and summer, but one thing after another has got in the way.

It’s horrendously confusing for a potential customer, so you're undoubtedly losing business. But I guess you know that already. I hope you manage to sort it out soon!

I've had a bit of a hip issue this year which has restricted my riding. Getting too bloody rickety.

[Skub]

I've had a bit of a hip issue this year which has restricted my riding. Getting too bloody rickety.

All those brothel crawls catch up with you.

[The Spin Doctor]

I've had a bit of a hip issue this year which has restricted my riding. Getting too bloody rickety.

All those brothel crawls catch up with you.

LOL LOL