RISHAD COOPER

Rishad tells you the safest, most effective ways to overcome the risk of riding bikes

Your limit isn’t the same as someone else’s. A sure recipe for disaster, is trying to match up to, and keep up with a faster rider around, when you’re out riding in a group

WITH THE GREAT THRILL OF BIKING, COMES the major damper of risk to riders. Push the boundaries of speed, and you end up inevitably edging out further on the safety tightrope. When the going’s good, the joys of bike riding hook you in with a pull that’s nothing short of addictive. However, when things go wrong on a bike, as they often can and will do, things end up heading south, very, very rapidly.

You learn within that split second when you cross over to the wrong side of the thin line between sunny side up and bust on a bike, that this is a place where few damage control options work out, if you’ve got the experience and any nerve at hand, beyond rising panic. As a rule, on bikes, prevention works far better than cure. Don’t allow yourself to come to a point where you’re clutching at straws. Easier said than done but not impossible. Your best protection is a calm mind through every situation, and your own safety net that’s best left fluid, adapting promptly to changes from day to day, bike to bike, on road or track, in any weather, temperature, etc.

If there’s a formula that works, this is a combination of where your own limits lie, in sync with the limits of your bike, the environment and conditions around you, processing all of which together, you can ensure you stay within the safety bubble. Cutting off unknown risk is your best bet to keep out of trouble, and not bursting the bubble.

Remember, your limit isn’t the same as someone else’s. A sure recipe for disaster, is trying to match up to, and keep up with a faster rider around, when you’re out riding in a group, or perhaps riding with mates at a track day. Here’s where the challenge to stay within your own personal limits gets hardest, because it’s all so easily overwhelmed by adrenaline, peer pressure and other such factors. Leave your ego at home when riding a bike. You’re better off competing with no one whose riding skills lie beyond yours, because bear in mind, should you crash and God forbid end up hurt, you and you alone face the unfortunate, sometimes very long lasting consequences. Moreover, at the end of the day after a crash — it really won’t matter too much, whose fault it all was. No one can teach you where your own limits lie, better than yourself. Likewise, the willpower to then make sure you ride within them has to come from within. Some days, you might find yourself effortlessly riding a level higher than others, perhaps thanks to a good night’s sleep, better fitness etc and just the same, on other days you could feel your reflexes just a tad slower. Feel this all through carefully, then adjust your pace accordingly. If you know 60kmph is your limit through a particular corner, leave some margin for error and keep something in reserve, taking it at 50kmph or perhaps 55kmph, but never at 60kmph.

Feel is everything on a bike. The tyres will let you know and give you a fair bit of warning, that this is that crucial point of lean angle, beyond which you are over the limit, and may find yourself tipped into the point of no return. If you feel that’s about 50 degrees, drop no more than 45 degrees in that corner.

Never let your focus dip and always concentrate, completely, when out on road or track, especially when riding fast. If you’re tired, take a break. If you don’t feel like riding for any reason, please don’t.

Listen to the little voice inside you. Sometimes you’ll go round dozens of blind corners fast, all okay, and then one will send a shiver of fear your way as you reach, and that’s when you should back off. I’m privileged to be close friends with Shyam Kothari, ranked amongst India’s best ever bike racers, multiple times National motocross champ, rally champion and road racing champion. And one of his many fantastic riding stories involves a scintillating day of rallying, where the legend blasted round corner after corner of the sealed rally stage, before inexplicably slowing round one, right round which he then saw, lay this terrifying obstacle, which could have sent him and navigator, straight to the hospital.

Never leave much to chance on a bike. Treat bikes with respect, every time and all the time. For bikes sometimes don’t allow you a second chance. Enjoy your biking, sure, but always ride to ride another day. ⌧