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The Four Horsemen



 
 
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  #1  
Old November 8th 13, 07:53 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Dan O
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Default 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)...

Ads
  #2  
Old November 8th 13, 07:54 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Dan O
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Default 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  
Old November 9th 13, 01:36 AM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
datakoll
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Default 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  
Old November 9th 13, 02:42 AM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Dan
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Default 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  
Old November 9th 13, 02:44 AM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Dan
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Default 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  
Old November 9th 13, 02:46 AM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Dan
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Default 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  
Old November 9th 13, 02:48 AM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Dan
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Posts: 896
Default The Four Horsemen



Social Interaction.

Wow, where even to begin...

(Save it for later... already covered *extensively* in the
archives.)
  #8  
Old November 9th 13, 03:01 AM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Dan
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Posts: 896
Default 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  
Old November 9th 13, 03:03 AM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Sir Ridesalot
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Default 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  
Old November 9th 13, 03:05 AM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Dan
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Posts: 896
Default 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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