true blue wrote:I find it much easier to get the late apex line (I think of it as a 'deep' line - not sure why, but maybe it's a phrase I've picked up elsewhere) on left hand bends than on right hand bends. Is that a symptom of being too close to the verge on the approach, and having little choice but to try and follow the geometrical line? Or am I just doing it wrong?
Does anyone else find this? Any tips to deal with it?
jcochrane wrote:true blue wrote:I find it much easier to get the late apex line (I think of it as a 'deep' line - not sure why, but maybe it's a phrase I've picked up elsewhere) on left hand bends than on right hand bends. Is that a symptom of being too close to the verge on the approach, and having little choice but to try and follow the geometrical line? Or am I just doing it wrong?
Does anyone else find this? Any tips to deal with it?
A problem that most people have. It is not your approach position that is the reason for cutting across but psychological and the way you use the eyes. To hold the approach position/line it feels like you are running off the road to the left as the left kerb appears to come round in front of you and because of this the centre of the eye becomes focused on the foreground between the kerb line and the centre of the road. As we know the car tends to go where the eye is looking.
The solution is to keep the eyes up looking to the most distant point of view and use the elongated cells at the side of the eyes for peripheral vision to ascertain lateral positioning on the road. It takes a bit of practice to make yourself aware of and to use peripheral vision but worth the effort to then use it all the time and not just for bends. Practice on a straight piece of road and whilst keeping your head still and looking up ahead as far as you can try and become aware of your peripheral vision, the movement of the two edges of the road rushing past, and how to use the information gained for lateral positioning.
StressedDave wrote:true blue wrote:I find it much easier to get the late apex line (I think of it as a 'deep' line - not sure why, but maybe it's a phrase I've picked up elsewhere) on left hand bends than on right hand bends. Is that a symptom of being too close to the verge on the approach, and having little choice but to try and follow the geometrical line? Or am I just doing it wrong?
Does anyone else find this? Any tips to deal with it?
There is no 'late apex' line around a right hand bend - the 'safety line' is around the outside of the bend. If you can't follow that line then your entry speed is too high. Simple as... Fixing it is a bugger though.
It's also the most common mistake I see when coaching.
There are occasions when the view opens up after you've entered the bend and you can crop the corner by straightening it out, but that is, by definition a late apex in any case.
triquet wrote:One can go round and round on this topic both literally and metaphorically. But sticking to real road driving (excluding track driving which is a different kettle of kippers) bends come in all shapes and sizes and visibility. Frequently the bend does not have a consistent radius: the true apex can be earlier or later than you think for. There is a vast difference between the bend you know, the bend you don't know, and the bend you didn't even know you didn't know (thank you Donald).
I just work on the general principle of plenty of visibility and don't scare the pants of people who might be coming the other way.
Tosh wrote: . . . John Miles' book Expert Driving The Police Way . . . the 'late apex' method
. . . in the Blue Book (1977) and right up to the Yellow book (1997) the diagrams show what is the line of constant radius and no mention of taking a later, sharper line to apex late in the bend.
Astraist wrote:Indeed. An oncoming collision at a left hander is just as common as on right handers.
For me, the solution has less to do with my own cornering line but rather to my speed assesment (for other cars) and timing: My speed and deceleration for the bend should allow a faster driver around the bend to complete their manuever around the bend before I get there.
Therefore, I am usually happy to stick to the centerline in a left hander, apex and reach back out, and vice versa with the apex nudging the centerline in a right hander.
Astraist wrote:Indeed. An oncoming collision at a left hander is just as common as on right handers.
For me, the solution has less to do with my own cornering line but rather to my speed assesment (for other cars) and timing: My speed and deceleration for the bend should allow a faster driver around the bend to complete their manuever around the bend before I get there.
Therefore, I am usually happy to stick to the centerline in a left hander, apex and reach back out, and vice versa with the apex nudging the centerline in a right hander.
revian wrote:TripleS wrote:Heh, driving is relatively easy: playing the piano is far more difficult. Oh, sorry; wrong thread...
...any fool can play the piano... winning is the problem...
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