There are times when you just cannot get it together and there are times when you just simply get it wrong. This applies at all levels of riding at any time and any environment.
I have been watching this with past and present students in the top levels of racing over the last few weeks. Thomas Luthi did really well at Jerez, getting himself on the podium; Leon Camier too did very well in Assen, again getting on the Podium. Where as Karel Abraham and Lukas Pesek struggled in the lower end on the Moto2 class.

We can all make a mistake. One moment it’s all going well and then, BANG, we find ourselves on the floor, off the bike and sliding down the road or track. And the mistake can come from either end a spectrum. On the one hand we are riding hard, on our own personal limit, burning up lots and lots of attention. We are processing what are eyes are telling us (at speed), we are trying to work out how to use that information, what is relevant what is not. Then we are prioritising the information, what do we need to deal with first, second, third? And, because we are riding at speed, this priority list will change on a thought by thought process. Then we have the physical world to deal with, which will be telling our bodies all manner of things. The braking forces, the acceleration forces, the centrifugal forces from cornering and in a lot of cases at least two of these things at once.

Then there is our bike beneath us. Is too is giving us a load of information. Traction, speed, stability, what the engine is doing, how the suspension and tyres are working. Then you have to take all this information and process it and work out what to do next.
It’s no wonder that sometimes when riding hard we get something a little wrong. Of course, then the processing has to notch up another gear as you are now having to deal with Survival Reactions (See Keith Code’s A Twist of the Wrist books for more info on these) and they create their own set of problems for you to deal with!

Now add again to this the pressures of racing where you have other riders around you all wanting the same piece of Tarmac you are on. That the other racers are intent on getting in front of you and you in front of them. That adds yet another layer to that already complex thought process.

Is it any wonder then at one small misplaced piece of info could lead to the rider crashing? (And I forgot to mention, that in racing terms you will also need enough spare attention to give your team’s suspension people feedback, as well as the tyre guys and the engine guys.)

Take Camier’s crash in the second race at Assen. He went just ever so slightly wide on the exit of the turn. It could not have been more than a few centimetres. But that was enough for the front tyre to be off the kerb and onto the dirt. Result? BOOM!

Now let’s look at the other end of the scale. How many times have you ended up making a mistake because you were not here, in present time? You were not concentrating as hard as you should have been. You were not switched on. Then you find yourself ‘suddenly’ having to deal with an incident (car pulling out in front, you drifting off line, other side of the road etc.) and now you are in the same situation again.

I will argue at this point that in some circumstances it is better to ride fast as your concentration levels are higher! That is why I rarely ride on the road anymore. I like to go fast and the road does not allow me to do that and either a. live b. stay out of prison c. have a licence. And the road limits are not ones I find I concentrate on enough, with the exception of 30s and 40s where there is plenty going on to keep me alert.

One thing we know helps is to have a system, a sequence of what you need to do for each corner. Knowledge that can help you process the good information from the bad, the useful information from the useless. With this you can reduce the mistakes; you can ride a little smoother, and a little faster.