Fatigue

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Fatigue – the sneaky hazard

By Tom Pemberton #110334 AS WE PREPARE TO TRAVEL TO

this year’s rally in Billings, Mont., we have many things on our minds. We’re thinking of what to pack, our route, and what we want to see and do at the rally. One area that many of us don’t really think about is how fatiguing riding the many miles to the rally can be. Many of our members are experienced long distance riders, very familiar with this danger. However, we do have in our ranks new members – and the long ride to the rally may be a first.

This article is for those new members and serves as a reminder to all members as they ride to the rally of the dangers of fatigue.

My first real experience with fatigue and its dangers happened many years ago. My trip began in Merced, California, and my destination was Portland, Oregon, a distance of about 700 miles. I originally was intending to make it a two day trip, with an overnight stay in Southern Oregon. As the day progressed, I found that I was in a groove. As I approached my intended overnight stop in Ashland, Oregon, I chose to keep going. My original plan of a leisurely two-day trip to Portland became an 18-hour marathon.

I began to really feel tired about Grants Pass, Oregon. I found my need for stops increasing, and my ability to concentrate on the road and traffic weakening. Since this was late summer I had daylight until 7 or 8 p.m., but once darkness set in, weariness began to become more pronounced. My night vision was impaired, and it was all I could do to keep alert. Arriving in the Portland area I had some mental confusion and almost missed my exit. When I finally reached my friend’s house, as I got off the bike I could barely hold it

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May 2015

up and get the side stand down.

The lessons I learned from that trip were to take frequent “breaks” and to limit your daily distance to what you can “really” manage. Those blurry last few miles were the results of fatigue. I was lucky to make it safely to Portland, as I found my perception and reaction times were well below a safe level.

What is fatigue

So what is fatigue and why is it so dangerous to not only motorcyclists but also other road users? The Oxford Dictionary defines fatigue as, “Extreme tiredness, typically resulting from mental or physical exertion or illness; a reduction in the efficiency of a muscle or organ after prolonged activity.” This means your body and mind steadily lose their normal ability to react and respond to external stimuli. Your reaction times slow down, and your mental acuity is lost.

How to recognize it

Fatigue is not always easy to recognize and can sneak up on you with no warning. Did you just miss something, like a car slowing ahead of you? Are you finding yourself staring too long at some object or part of the road? Do you find it hard to get your body to react to road conditions or other road users? These are all signs of weariness.

In past articles we have discussed the concept of “Street Strategies,” strategies we can, and should use as we ride to reduce our risk while enjoying our sport. These street strategies use three skill sets to enable you, the motorcyclist, to reduce your risk.

They are Search (sometimes referred to as Situational Awareness or a search strategy), Evaluate (Mental processing), and Execute (physical reactions to an event or hazard).

Fatigue affects all three of these skills by reducing your ability to perceive hazards, clouding your mind while you are trying to evaluate those hazards, and slowing your ability to respond, or more often react, to

those hazards.

How to handle it

Fatigue needs to be handled in a ground up manner. First, is your bike set up to reduce fatigue? Most touring bikes are designed to allow putting the miles behind you. They have comfortable seats and upright seating positions that make for a more comfortable ride. Many modern bikes have suspension adjustment systems that can change your bikes suspension setup at a press of a button. Windscreens can reduce the buffeting from the wind, and traction control systems provide the best possible traction for road conditions. However, even with all of these options, fatigue is still a danger.

Is your bike set up to make YOU comfortable? When you are on your bike on a long ride, do you find areas of your body that tire or begin to ache before other areas? What can you do to change your seat or position that might make your ride more comfortable? Some options would be handlebar setbacks, higher windscreens, a new seat or jell pads, and lowered foot pegs, anything to change your position for a more comfortable ride.

To paraphrase Charles Dickens: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times …” The best bikes out of the box for long distance riding are tourers and cruisers; the worst are sport bikes. The way to think about it is that tourers and cruisers have been designed following the American way of riding a horse; sport bikes follow the European way of horse riding. Hence, tourers and cruisers have a more relaxed and extended seating position that is less fatiguing over time. While the sport bike’s tucked in position is better for the twisty roads, it can be very fatiguing over time.

Next, how can your riding style reduce fatigue? Do you have a strategy for dealing with fatigue? If not you should develop one. Each person is different, what works for you in all likelihood will not work for

me. Each person needs to first understand his or her limitations. Age is also an important factor in how quickly we can become weary on a bike. As we age we are already facing reduced reaction times and physical limitations. Once we add fatigue into the equation, we increase our risk with every mile.

The key is having a plan. What is your optimal distance for a day, 200, 300, 400 or more miles? Do you have a plan for when you will stop for breaks, lunch? What type of roads will you be riding? Are you going to be on freeways most of the time, or will your route take you on some back roads?

What type of rider are you, laid back and easy, or aggressive? These are all factors that will affect your plan.

My plan when I am on a long trip is that I usually limit my day’s ride to not much

more than 350 miles per day. I also plan to take breaks about once an hour; this is dependent upon the type of roads I am riding. Different types of roads can create fatigue in different ways. Twisty roads require lots of concentration and physical effort. Freeways can create boredom and inattention. I always consider the weather; cold increases fatigue, so making sure I have the right gear is my first consideration. Heat and dehydration can also increase fatigue, so I carry water and make sure I drink often.

Each person needs to have his or her own plan, even when riding in a group.

The participating riders in a group ride need to have a plan for rest stops to reduce weariness based upon the skill level of the least experienced rider. But each individual rider needs to be aware of his or her own

limits and weariness, rather than depending upon the other riders to determine the need for rest.

Your personal plan for any ride needs to take into account your skills, your bike, your experience, your age, the time frame of your ride, and the weather. Many factors, which if ignored, add up to increase your risk.

Some of us like to challenge ourselves with Iron Butt Rallies, seeing if we can ride 1000 miles in the shortest time. Others prefer an easy, relaxed ride. After all, we all want to enjoy our ride and arrive at our destination safely. We make choices when we ride, and we must understand the risks and accept them. Understanding fatigue and having a plan is crucial to reducing the risk and increasing the enjoyment of the ride.