#1
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The Four Horsemen
Done a bit of thinking since: https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=...g/80ZNx5mCY0kJ /*******************/ The Four Horsemen: Bike Handling Skills Situational Awareness Rules of the Road Social Interaction /*******************/ I know this isn't a blog, but... First in a possible series on The Four Horsemen is #2, Situational Awareness (because I've got that one written already)... |
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#2
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The Four Horsemen
I didn't even know it was a "thing"; I thought I had made it up. Well, I knew it was a patently obvious (to me) fundamental cognitive concept, but I *thought* I had pulled it together as a label from discrete words in my vocabulary; dunno maybe I heard it somewhere in my peripheral, er... awareness. I suppose I may have been exposed to the term in EMR training. Anyway, you guys know I've always said situational awareness is head and shoulders (and then some... hell, it's virtually *everything*) of safe bicycling in traffic. I found the Wikipedia page for it today. Cool stuff. Will start with the definition the Situation Awareness (SA): "the perception of elements in the environment within a volume of time and space, the comprehension of their meaning, and the projection of their status in the near future," That's pretty good. To establish ~on-topic: "... perception of the environment critical to decision-makers in... complex tasks such as... bicycle." A couple of other interesting notes: "One with an adept sense of situation awareness generally has a high degree of knowledge with respect to inputs and outputs of a system, i.e. an innate "feel" for situations, people, and events that play out due to variables the subject can control." I wouldn't emphasize the variables that I can control, because those I cannot are equally important, though those I can control do fall in for special treatment. It's fuzzy, though, as one little controlling action changes everything, including *relationship* with the things one cannot control. I agree with the characterization "innate 'feel'". "Situation awareness has been recognized as a critical, yet often elusive, foundation for successful decision-making across a broad range of complex and dynamic systems... " I agree with the characterization "elusive". As for Bike School: "... well-defined, highly-organized yet dynamic knowledge structures developed over time from experience... " I agree that SA depends on experience, and there is no substitute. "... individuals vary in their ability to acquire SA; thus, simply providing the same system and training will not ensure similar SA across different individuals. Endsley's model shows how SA "provides the primary basis for subsequent decision making and performance in the operation of complex, dynamic systems" Wow, it's quite an article. I've only just skimmed yet. Here's an interesting gotcha: "... unaware of information they do not know (the "unknown unknowns")." But exactly the same holds true for Bike School graduates. I liked the reference at Wikipedia about air combat dogfighting "strategy... to "get inside" your opponent's OODA [observe, orient, decide, act] loop". That's exactly what smart racing is to me; and I use this in ordinary traffic, too - except that it can be inverse here in that the objective is not (usually ;-) to outwit an opponent - maybe even extended to tricking them by messing with *their* SA - but in ordinary transportation the objective is more usually to feed their OODA loop in ways that enhance getting along together. (The Four Horsemen themselves are kind of inverse here in that it's not their presence, but rather their absence, that is ominous.) |
#3
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The Four Horsemen
THE HORSEMEN ARE HERE....
PROB IS 'situational' means you vs them in the bicycle environment. Itsnot really situational more end game. Situational implies a give and take, a 'good' balance. Here there is no balance. That is, posing as a 'road warrior' is self destructive. |
#4
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The Four Horsemen
datakoll writes:
THE HORSEMEN ARE HERE.... PROB IS 'situational' means you vs them in the bicycle environment. Yes, problem(s). Otherwise what's there to say? What we have are mixed modes with greatly different incentives. Prblems ensue. (It's what separate facilities address.) Itsnot really situational more end game. Of course! Situational implies a give and take, a 'good' balance. Sorry to argue, but "situational" only implies a situation. And yes, I'll agree strongly that balance is key. Here there is no balance. Well, I'll admit to getting way out of balance... but it all balances out in the end game. That is, posing as a 'road warrior' is self destructive. Yes. True. But believe me when I say that I am more the real deal than poseur. |
#5
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The Four Horsemen
Bike handling skills come from experience. I *suppose* somebody could teach some techniques and (even better yet for me) maybe explain the physics in play (helping me *understand* what I am experiencing), but how to steer? Really? (No kidding, teaching this was discussed here in all seriousness.) Almost anyone can ride a bike, but "Ride Bike!" doesn't happen until a bike feels like more of your own body parts. So beyond merely riding a bike to learn bike riding, how does one develop wicked radical amazing bike ninja skills? *Not* by following traffic school dogma, or by always striving to keep to the clean, smooth (ideally dry) pavement. The more inclined to try every kind of riding experience that presents itself, the more diversity of experience the rider will gain. Beyond just riding through the ditch and over the berm onto the parking lot and around the back between the dumpster and the downspout, the rider's attitude factors in what they'll get out of it. Sure the first time through some new experience even the most curious adventurer ought to exercise caution, but once he'd felt the experience of doing it, the fledgling bike ninja will go, "Bonzai!!!" at the next opportunity where his experience is applicable. The bike ninja never limits his options, and exercises unorthodox ones often and "just because". Of the Four Horsemen - Bike Handling, Situational Awareness, Rules of the Road, and Social Interaction - Bike Handling Skills are Sesame Street's "one of these things is not like the other". The other three all interelate heavily. Bike handling, OTOH - while a partial basis for the decision making of SA and a toolset that affects the range of options - bike handling needs to just be there autonomically and the rest of the Horsemen can work out the logistics amongst themselves (but bike handling is the one Horseman who must pull their bacon out of the fire). |
#6
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The Four Horsemen
Rules of the Road. This is of course a huge, sprawling topic, of utmost importance to many (most) independent travelers; but my coverage here will be short. The Rules of the Road greatly affect Situational Awareness, because it *strongly* influences what other road users are *apt* to do. It does not constrain what is possible, but it heavily drives probability. (The SA rider still needs to pay attention - to get inside the head of others and consider how "ruled" they are by the Rules.) The Rules of the Road - in The United States of America, at least - are almost entirely geared for automobile traffic, so they are often the proverbial round hole for the square peg of a bicyclist. But wait! The Rules of the Road (pretty much) *only* apply to the road, which it but a very small part of the bicyclist's landscape :-) Golly I guess that's about all I have to say about this (for now), except that (and we'll get into this with the other closely related Horseman, Social Interaction) certain unwritten fundamental rules are always in effect. |
#7
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The Four Horsemen
Social Interaction. Wow, where even to begin... (Save it for later... already covered *extensively* in the archives.) |
#8
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The Four Horsemen
Dan writes:
datakoll writes: THE HORSEMEN ARE HERE.... PROB IS 'situational' means you vs them in the bicycle environment. Yes, problem(s). Otherwise what's there to say? What we have are mixed modes with greatly different incentives. Prblems ensue. (It's what separate facilities address.) Itsnot really situational more end game. Of course! Situational implies a give and take, a 'good' balance. Sorry to argue, but "situational" only implies a situation. And yes, I'll agree strongly that balance is key. Here there is no balance. Well, I'll admit to getting way out of balance... but it all balances out in the end game. That is, posing as a 'road warrior' is self destructive. Yes. True. But believe me when I say that I am more the real deal than poseur. Please note that I acknowledge the difference between fighter plane dogfighting and successful transportation. "Inverse" objectives and ~approaches, even. However, I am a racer. That doesn't mean I'm racing with everybody all the time, but it's an inclination. We racers generally understand "it's in the blood" (however it gets there). The neat thing about racing around when there's no real race happening is that all's fair - "Gumball!" ;-) A *lot* of people have this bent on the road. Most of them aren't as pure about it, though, and just use it to express their general adversarial aggression. These Horsemen principles, though, can apply (I think) to other styles (racer blood or otherwise). |
#9
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The Four Horsemen
On Friday, November 8, 2013 8:46:16 PM UTC-5, Dan wrote:
Rules of the Road. This is of course a huge, sprawling topic, of utmost importance to many (most) independent travelers; but my coverage here will be short. The Rules of the Road greatly affect Situational Awareness, because it *strongly* influences what other road users are *apt* to do. It does not constrain what is possible, but it heavily drives probability. (The SA rider still needs to pay attention - to get inside the head of others and consider how "ruled" they are by the Rules.) The Rules of the Road - in The United States of America, at least - are almost entirely geared for automobile traffic, so they are often the proverbial round hole for the square peg of a bicyclist. But wait! The Rules of the Road (pretty much) *only* apply to the road, which it but a very small part of the bicyclist's landscape :-) Golly I guess that's about all I have to say about this (for now), except that (and we'll get into this with the other closely related Horseman, Social Interaction) certain unwritten fundamental rules are always in effect. I believe it was Quakers who when building wooden ships used square pegs in round holes because that stopped the peg from twisting loose in use. So, sometimes even a square peg in a round hole is useful. Cheers |
#10
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The Four Horsemen
Sir Ridesalot writes:
snip I believe it was Quakers who when building wooden ships used square pegs in round holes because that stopped the peg from twisting loose in use. So, sometimes even a square peg in a round hole is useful. That is very profound and at the same time quite practical. I *like* it! Thanks! |
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