A Scientist, a Pillion, a Racer and a Long Distance Rider: On Staying Alert

According to the Motorcycle Council of NSW, Inc in Australia, the symptoms of fatigue for drivers of enclosed vehicles may differ from a fatigued motorcyclist. It’s important to recognize these signs.

*Driver Fatigue Symptoms include:

•loss of concentration •drowsiness, yawning •slow reactions •sore or tired eyes •boredom •feeling irritable and restless •making fewer and larger steering corrections •missing road signs •having difficulty in staying in the lane •having microsleeps.

*The symptoms of rider fatigue include:

•joint and muscle stiffness •pain or weakness in hands and feet •loss of concentration •slow or impaired judgment and reactions.

*Excerpts taken from http://roadsafety.mccofnsw.org.au/a/50.html

And the scary thing is that although a rider may feel fully awake, they may actually be fatigued without realizing it, and make a judgement error, resulting in crashing on a curve or an accident while overtaking another vehicle.

Because riding a motorcycle is different than riding a car, in that it is more demanding both mentally and physically, it’s likely you’ll be tired from the physical challenges rather than boredom.

So how to beat this? Who better to ask than four people who ride motorcycles and have experience in dealing with fatigue: a scientist, a pillion, a racer and a long distance rider.

Guests on this episode:

Sam Marcora A Director of Research at Kent University and a motorcyclist, in 2013 Sam Marcora studied fatigue in motorbike riders on a 3 month ride from London to Beijing and through Central Asia and Tibet. www.kent.ac.uk/sportsciences/staff/academic/s-marcora.html

Christophe Barriere Varju An endurance rider and a Motocross Champion, Christophe Barrier Varju has ridden in the Dakar Rally several times, the toughest and most dangerous motorsport race in the world. He’s the subject in an award winning film, Dream Racer, about running the Dakar. www.dreamracer.tv

Shirley Hardy-Rix A pillion rider, Shirley, along with her husband Brian Rix, is the author of three books. She has travelled the world two up on a BMW with Brian and they have just completed their third trip and are now planning their fourth. www.aussiesoverland.com.au

Nick Sanders An adventure motorcyclist and author, Nick Sanders is best known for his extreme motorcycle trips. Nick has ridden around the world 7 times, has motorcycled the length of the Americas 8 times and holds a record for a “double transit from Alaska to Ushuaia and back in 46 days. www.nicksanders.com

Show Sponsors:

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Music: Jason Shaw at www.audionautix.com

Reverie (small theme) by _ghost (c) copyright 2010 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/_ghost/25389 Ft: Pitx

I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/grapes/16626 Ft: J Lang, Morusque

I Dunno (Grapes of Wrath Mix) by spinningmerkaba (c) copyright 2017 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/jlbrock44/56346 Ft: Jlang, 4nsic, grapes

Sudden Goodbye by Alex (c) copyright 2013 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/AlexBeroza/43002 Ft: TheDice

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