Mastering the Ride

Bestselling author and motorcyclist David Hough is a serious, down-to-earth master of two- (and three-) wheeled street rods who is interested in the safety and road smarts of his fellow motorcyclists. Mastering the Ride is his follow-up to his bestseller, Proficient Motorcycling, and it may be even better. For motorcyclists ready to take their rides to the next level, Mastering the Ride is an exhilarating course in skills, safety, and common sense. Hough's writing style is straightforward and conversational--never professorial, preachy, or boring. With instructional color photographs and drawings, the book covers: *Improving the rider's skills of speed and passing on Super-Slabs, mountain roads, and city streets *Anticipating and handling street and road hazards, from treacherous tar snakes to lane-weaving drivers *Learning the limits of sight distances and executing quick stops at sudden hazards and curves *And much more! The book devotes two full chapters to the skills involved in mastering cornering with specific advice about rolling on and off the throttle, shifting, braking, countersteering, body steering and positioning, and cornering lines. In the chapter Mastering the Art of Conspicuity, Hough recommends riders understand and employ conspicuity. Motorcyclists should understand how motorcyclists and car drivers see their surroundings and ensure that other drivers can see motorcyclists on the road by use of hi-viz clothing, LED lights, and other gear. The key to safety rests in increased situational awareness, the topic of the next chapter. Motorcyclists must be able to predict how road events will unfold by thinking through the possibilities of a scenario way before a potential hazard presents itself. Thanks to Hough's direct and specific instructions for riders, motorcyclists understand what they need to know, to improve, to avoid, and to do every time they get on their bikes. This chapter and the skills it describes are nothing short of life-saving. In short, Mastering the Ride is a crash course in how not to crash. The breadth and depth of the information here is astounding. A section on the aging rider, including ways to compensate for older riders' slower reaction times and for older cyclists to readapt their skills, is included in the appendix, as is a travelogue of Hough's road trips to some of his favorite locations. A glossary, resources section, and index complete the book. Come on, take a ride with David. You won't be disappointed.