haakon59This is an interesting discussion. Some very sobering accounts. I am not a rider yet, so I have no stories to tell, but I can talk about another experience I had which was fear-inducing: training to fight. To learn some psychological skills I found a tape set (remember cassettes?) that was called “Gold Metal Workout”, if I remember correctly. The instructor was a man who had earned the silver in Judo in the Olympics. Regardless, the tapes were all about how to deal with fear. He used the analogy of walking across a beam at great height–if this beam were on the ground none of us would have a problem walking over it, but when it is lifted up to a height of 100 meters, then just about everyone would be afraid. How can you focus on the beam and make it across at this height? How do you control your mind? Fortunately, I don’t think riding a motorcycle is quite this dangerous (although it is risky enough) but I think the concepts are analogous. Some fear is natural. I ran across some helpful “hypnosis” CD’s from “The Hyposis Network” which were quite helpful for another situation I dealt with. The Title of one was “Preparing for Uncertainty” by Eric Creenleaf and there is another title called “Managing Stress and Anxiety” by Randy Gilchrist–both are quiet helpful. The link is here: http://www.hypnosisnetwork.com/index.php In terms of managing your fear (your mind) I think both of these are fairly effective. This has been a very helpful discussion.
