Keith Code? Cornering Lines? That's Just Plain Wrong . . .

Many riders (and readers) don't like the Keith Code books and 'style', but it works for me.

OK, the books take a bit of 'translation' - both from the US-speak and because they're track-oriented rather than road.  That said, I've found them useful and they've influenced how I train other riders.

But Keith also places articles on his web site forum, the most recent is about cornering lines:
Lines

Usually they're an interesting read (although you need to gently peel away the sales blurp that's knitted within the text ;) ).

But this one had me muttering, at the line: "The most obvious component of riding is the space the rider used to negotiate the bend, in common speak it is his line."  To be fair, the rest of the article makes sense.

The gist is that you should hone 'accuracy' of lines on a track (by taking training ;) ) before you try lines on-road.  To a point I agree - although he's talking about 'accuracy' from some riders of 'within +/- 5 feet'!!!  That's a good part of the width of a typical UK road!  With that degree of random riding, being on a track has to be good for road safety.

But as far as skills and 'training' for on-road cornering go, I emphasise the approach, set-up and negotiation of the bend long before getting into the necessity of 'lines', as the basic skills should be fluent before essential brain capacity (Code's '$10' to spend) is used for planning and implementing 'lines'.

See the specific cornering page for more details.



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Highway Code - 80th Birthday!

From the DSA:


On 14 April this year, the Highway Code celebrates its 80th anniversary.


When it was introduced in 1931 there were just 2.3 million motor vehicles in Great Britain, yet over 7,000 people were killed in road accidents each year. In 2009, this had fallen to 2,222 killed, despite there being over 30 million vehicles on the road.
Although road safety has come a long way over the years, the spirit of the Highway Code remains the same: the very first edition urged all road users to be careful and considerate towards others, putting safety first.
But of course some aspects of the Code have changed considerably. For example, in 1931 mirrors were not even mentioned and drivers were advised to sound their horn when overtaking.
More than a third of the original 24-page booklet was given to hand signals, compared to the single page covering the subject in the current edition.
The latest edition, published in 2007, was updated to include new legislation on vehicle emissions and smoking in vehicles, and references new initiatives like high- occupancy vehicle lanes, home zones and active traffic management schemes.
The Code is substantially updated every 8-10 years, meaning the next new edition is likely to be published sometime after 2015.

The 1931 edition:•cost one old penny
•was the only one to carry advertisements
•contained 18 pages of advice, compared to 93 pages in the 1999 edition
•included advice to drivers of horse drawn vehicles to 'rotate the whip above the head; then incline the whip to the right or left to show the direction in which the turn is to be made.'

Take the quiz
DSA's official publisher, TSO, has created a short quiz so all road users can see whether they need to brush up on their road knowledge. Take the quiz here: http://tinyurl.com/68u968p


From:
http://resources.govdelivery.com/resources/UKDSA/dsa_despatch_april2011.pdf


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