You are riding in the Mountains of North Carolina where the this is the infamous Deals Gap run 11 miles and over two hundred turns. Make a mistake here and you are off the side of the mountain or over the yellow line and into oncoming traffic.

You have the latest and greatest tires, checked the tire pressure and inspected your bike several times but there is this nagging feeling that "YOU" are really not ready for this, yet "YOU" cannot define why or what the problem really is.

You start the western run over Deals Gap but you are missing the lines in some turns and the bike feels like it wants to fall over in the slow turns. You are passed by a few squids on new sport bikes and decide to pick up the pace a bit. Down deep you realize you are not comfortable, confident or in control like you would like.

You impress yourself by being able to keep up with the last person in the group that just passed, but he/she is also not hitting some lines either and in fact is off the edge of the road a few times. Gradually, the sport riders all pull away and you settle down to a slower pace, but are still not comfortable. Finally, you are at the end of the eleven miles your, Ducati made it fine, but you are mentally and physically drained.

Well there are two inescapable parts that form the answer.

First, to ride well, you must be have a bike that will allow you to be confident and in control twisting the throttle.

Secondly, but more important, to ride well, you must have the personal confidence and control to twist the throttle.

Basically it "all boils down" to the two "c's", confidence and control. This is not to diminish the effect on riding skills of cumulative seat time, experience on different bikes, bike prep, handling modifications and all the other aspects of riding that combine to make a good clean ride and rider, but in the end if you are not confident and in control of yourself and your bike you will not be able to enjoy yourself or your Ducati in the twisties.

I can hear it now, all you guys and gals thinking or saying "what's the point of such an article, who cares".

Well, one point is that those of us that ride Ducati's ride them in the real world not in some museum parking lot, and you should care because there are tight twisties and Ducati for sure intended these fine bikes to be ridden in the twisties.

For those of you that ride the speed limit on your Ducati all the time and never give it the slightest bit of additional throttle when a nice turn appears in the horizon or never cross the yellow line, you might consider moving on to your next read, but there just may be bits here to help you, for if we all take just one small riding technique out of this article that makes us more confident, in control, and safer riders it might be worth while.

Finally, I am convinced the one reason no one has ever done an article like this is simply because the author will come across as a self centered, pompous, know it all "you know what" which of course I already admit to be true thus I have nothing to lose.

So we have it, hundreds of articles on fixing, painting, tuning and repairing Ducati's over the decades and I am going to give it a go for maybe for the first time at developing rider skills to ride Ducati's in a manner consistent in an area the factory considered important, the twisties.

Looking way up the road as far as you can then scanning back is a big step in making tight twisties a small part of your own personal heaven.

Looking way up the road is important on straight roads, but is critical in the tight twisties we have in the in mountains here on the East Coast.

Over the years I have followed riders in the tight twisties that are not smooth, certain, or confident. I believe the main reason for their problems is that they do not know which direction the next tight turn is going to take, thus are unable to formulate a plan for the speed and line of the turn.

If you do not know where the road is going you cannot be confident, in control, or safe. I am convinced that looking way up the road is the one factor that can "make or break a ride and rider" in the twisties and this will be the thrust of this first installment:

Tuning yourself for the tight twisties.

Are you saying I am heading into a tight set of twisties and it is possible I really don't know where the road is going or the next turn in headed?

"YES", that is exactly what I am saying and if you are not confident where the road is going you can not be smooth, have the right line nor be prepared for possible obstacles on the road, and certainly you are not going to be as safe as you should be on your Ducati.

Visualize your eyes being a very rapid auto focus camera zooming up the road as far as you can see then back to where you are. This is repeated over and over as often as you can.

The goal here is to take many mental pictures of the far away road situation so you can have time to study the pictures in your mind and form a plan before you get to the turn. This looking ahead plan will then enable you to make correct decisions about the direction the next turn will take, in time to adjust entry speed/exit speed and of course evaluate road conditions.

The second part of your plan is the "scan back". After looking way up the road, you scan back to where you are to confirm that the prior plan you have made about the immediate turn you are about to enter is still accurate.

So it is a two part plan really, looking up the road as far as you can to formulate a future plan for when you get there, then scanning back to confirm/adjust/execute the prior plan you already made for where you are.

Once you have mastered this you will start to feel confident where you are going in the tight twisties. Once you are confident, your lines will improve, and the entrance speeds and exits speeds will be correct more often and then you will be in control.

This is the easiest part, you simply practice looking way up the road, making a plan, then scanning back and executing the prior plan while you are driving the car.

You will soon discover this works for all driving situations, but is most effective to practice in tight repetitive turns, since this is where we want to apply this technique on your Ducati. Early on it will be a lot more difficult than you think, but with practice you will master the basics.

Well now, you say "the first time out in my car I was able to look way up the road and scan back, but truthfully, I did not see too much and my planning for the direction of the next turn was not as accurate as I had hoped".

This is normal, to initially think you did not see that much, but really what happened is, you saw a lot more than you think you did, you simply did not realize what you were seeing. The pictures your eyes sent to your mind did not result in a good plan. You missed the twisties clues.

Not being able to remember what you saw looking as far up the road in tight twisties is what I call "missed clues". It is sort of like a twisties road mystery.

The clues were there, you did see them, but you simply did not recognize them and thus were unable to make a plan related to the direction of the next turn, the line you should take, or entrance/exit speeds. The next section covers recognizing tight twisties clues.

Clue 1 - Road Signs
Signs are one piece of the puzzle, but remember, road signs can be absent so don't depend on signs as your only method for formulating your plan for the next series of turns in the twisties.

Also remember, your plan is not just which direction the turning is headed, but how much speed to carry in, the line to take, and completing your plan through the exit.

I rate road signs in tight twisties as maybe 25% of the solution to determining where the tight turns are going and again 25% of the puzzle related to how severe or gradual the turn can be.

Where road signs really come in handy is when approaching first in a tight series of turns and you really do not know where the road is headed since the first turn is a blind turn, or worse yet, a turn at the crest of a hill. In this case the arrow on the road sign, not the speed on the sign, is a great clue related to the direction of the turn.

Clue 2 - The Reality of Road Signs
Another road sign clue in tight twisties is not , repeat now... "not" the speed shown on the sign, but speed on the sign you are looking at compared to speeds shown on previous road signs.

Simply stated, if all the signs have indicated 40 mph or so for the last three miles in the twisties, and the next sign indicates 15 mph, this is a very BIG clue that this turn could be far different or more severe than all the preceding turns. The point is to adjust your plan and speed accordingly.

Clue 3 - Skid Marks
Skid marks give us two clues, one and most obvious, when you see a lot of black marks on the road entering a turn, more than a few people have been caught napping entering that turn. So when you see lots of black marks on the road going into a turn, simply ask yourself "am I that much better in my entry speed or line than all the others?". The answer should be "no" or "I don't know", so adjust your concern and entrance speed accordingly.

Skid marks also give a clue related to the direction the turn will take. They frequently have an arc which will be toward the direction the turn takes.

Clue 4 - Road/Tight Turn History
The major clue to study while looking as far as you can up the road in the twisties is the history of the road for the last few miles...(it is not likely the civil engineers would all of a sudden take a totally different design approach starting say two miles into a mountain pass).

If you have been on rides with very good riders, you will not find them at the front right off in a stretch of road they have not been on before. They may not be able to tell you why, but the real reason is they are waiting to feel the rhythm and history of the road, turns, ascents and descents. Once they are confident they move out.

Study the nature of the turns in a section of tight twisties including the camber and radius along with the turn sequence left, left, right for example. Once you have tuned yourself into this the road will most likely repeat what you have observed over and over.

Important note, if you have found the history of the road to be unpredictable and unreadable it is likely the remaining stretch of the road will be the same, so always adjust your pace accordingly.

Clue 5 - Closing white lines, vegetation lines, tree tops and telephone poles
The final major clue related to where the road or turn is headed and if the turn is about to open up or get tight, comes from what I call the white line, vegetation or tree top/telephone pole phenomenon.

Over the years I have found in the twisties that as you look way up the road to make your plan and white lines on the side of the road appear to going away from you or expanding apart, this means the turn and road are about to open up on to, albeit a possible short straight away.

When you are looking up the road and see the white lines appear to be closing together in the near distance or coming toward you this means the turn is coming toward you and closing in tightness.

The direction of the upcoming turn will be indicated by where the white lines close compared to the center of the road. If the white lines close to left of the center of the road the next turn will usually go to the left. This opening up and closing together is not just seen in white road lines it also can be viewed in traces in the vegetation in the distance along both sides of the road.

Elevated views to the top of trees and observing left/right patterns of telephone poles/lines in the distance also provide solid clues as to which direction turns will take. So in scanning up the road to make a plan, do not always look 2-6 feet off the ground; the best clues are higher in the tree tops, telephone poles/lines in the distance or even the directions fences go in the distance. (At a rally in St. Clairsville a few years ago one non member slid off the road in a right turn. Walking back from the turn a couple hundred yards one could see the phone lines going from the right to the left side of the road above the turn, more than a mini clue what direction the road was taking)

It is these looks up the road to observe and form a plan that brings confidence so necessary for riding the twisties yet it is something you can or should be taking time to think, it just happens as part of all your next turn scan and look back, but for it to happen, you have to consider, think or know it thus the reason for mentioning it here.

Again, practice is the key.

Visualize your eyes being a very rapid auto focus camera zooming up the road as far as you can see then back to where you are. This is repeated over and over as often as you can.

The goal here is to take many mental pictures of the far away road situation so you can have time to study the pictures in your mind and form a plan before you get to the turn. This looking ahead plan will then enable you to make correct decisions about the direction the next turn will take, lines, entry speed/exit speed and of course evaluate road conditions.

The second part of your plan is the scan back. After looking way up the road you scan back to where you are to confirm that the prior plan you have made about the immediate turn you are nearing is still accurate.

So it is a two part plan really, looking up the road as far as you can to formulate a future plan for when you get there, then scanning back to confirm/adjust/execute the prior plan you already made for the turn you are entering.

Once you have mastered this you will start to feel confident where you are going in the tight twisties. Once you are confident your lines will improve, and the entrance speeds and exits speeds will be correct more often and then you will be in control.

The goal here is to take many mental pictures of the far away road situation so you can have time to study the pictures in your mind and form a plan before you get to the turn.

This looking ahead plan will then enable you to make correct decisions about the direction the next turn will take, lines, entry speed/exit speed and of course evaluate road conditions

This method will also help you see road debris and issues earlier on and in general make for a safer ride and rider.

The best time to look way up the road for your next turn plan in tight twisties is after you have scanned back and you are leaning over in the current turn you are exiting.

Think about this, you are leaned over in a tight turn, yet not on the throttle yet, you can't be looking right in front of you (you are already there and no corrective action is possible) so at this time looking way up the road is a natural.

Another time I have found to look up the road (especially if the turn is say real sharp and folds back on itself say at 300 degrees or so) is upon braking while entering the current turn, a quick glance up the road through the trees and vegetation is easy and takes just a moment. I know looking over through the trees to the see the road increasing in elevation and checking the next turns is a wild idea but it does work.

This is easy, you look up the road as far as you can. In tight turns this might only be the length of a football field, in long sweepers like in Canada this can be a half a mile. The point is you are looking as far up the road as possible to make your plan so you are not planning where you are, but rather where you will be, and when you get there you will be confident and in control because you have a plan.

If the next turn is a severe left turn you should focus as far up the road to the left as you can since this side of the road opens up first and will give you earlier clues to the line and the future. Note, this is not a static picture but one that changes as the turn unfolds. Another reason for looking left first is safety, to observe oncoming traffic that might be in your lane or heading your way.

If the next turn is a severe right turn, you should first focus to as far up the road as you can to the right or berm initially since more of the turn unfolds to the right first, and again this gives you earlier clues to the line and the future. Note again, this is not a static picture but one that changes as the turn unfolds.

There is no reason to be actively looking in the left lane in a right turn and it is a proven fact a lot of us go where we focus/look and we don't want to be in the left lane in a right turn, right?

In either case looking up the road as far as you can see will allow you to make your plan and observe any debris or issues. Remember now, after looking up the road and making your preliminary plan, you scan back to where you are to confirm the prior plan.

The best time for scanning back in tight twisties is after looking up the road to make your plan, but before you enter the upcoming turn (you remember the prior one you looked up the road and planned).

The number of times you can look up the road and scan back is dependent on the speed you are travelling and skill in doing the look up the road/scan back technique. Often only one look and scan back is possible, but this is generally enough to formulate a plan.

Once you have mastered looking up the road versus right in front of the bike, your confidence of where the road is going in tight twisties and planning the direction the next turn is taking will improve and with this, your control of the road, your bike, and the situation, will increase.

Another side benefit of looking way up the road and scanning back is that you will also be able to spot possible problems in the road in time to take evasive action and this will make you safer. In all, a nice combination of rider skills, confidence, control and safety, and all from looking way up the road and scanning back.

In West Virginia in early spring or after a rain gravel is washed across the road. This can happen overnight in tight turns in the mountains and if you see this early in a ride, mark this down in your mental road history notebook because if it happened one time it will happen again. By looking as far up the road as you can you will spot this danger earlier than simply looking where you are, right in front of the bike, and this is true no matter how fast you are going, even at a sub tour pace.

Another phenomenon in West Virginia is what I call the twisties tight right turn gravel syndrome.

Say what? Well, the turns are so tight in some parts of West Virginia and Virginia, the road can actually fold back on itself. Gravel forms in the tight right turns because trucks/semis trailers get off the inside of these tight turns and actually pull the gravel on the inside paved parts of the road. The point here again, if you noticed this in the road history it will repeat itself. Again, looking up the road you will spot this danger earlier than simply looking where you are right in front of the bike, and this is true no matter how fast you are going even at a sub tour pace.

Another problem in Virginia and West Virginia or in any mountainous twisties situation, is that large trees along the road can cast intermittent shadows on the road surface. This makes spotting rocks and other debris in the shaded part of the road very difficult and the bright to shade flashing makes looking way up the road a slower process since the iris of the eye is contracting/expanding with these ever changing sun shade situations. If the road has this history at certain times of the day, adjust your speed so you can look up the road, still have time to focus, and make your plan. Again, by focusing far up the road this less favorable vision situation is less pronounced and made a bit safer than looking just ahead of where you are.

Turning ones head at the proper angle to keep the eyes parallel to the road is not a natural movement or position for the human anatomy.

Combine all of this with keeping ones eyes level to the ground and twisting the neck to see way up the road, all the while being in a severe turn, and we have the seemingly impossible for most of us mortals.

It is not easy to explain, but a single photo is really worth a thousand words in this case. Next time at the news stand or checking your favorite bike rag, look for road/race photos, then simply check out the head, neck and eye position of road racers as they peer up the road while still in a tight turn. This is what we want to do but to a lesser degree.

Well now, we have a plan to get our confidence up by looking up the road making a plan and scanning back to where we are to execute the prior plan, now what?

First off, we practice this over and over in the car until it is something that comes naturally without forcing concentration, and at this point we do feel better in the tight twisties related to determining the direction the road will take, the entry speed and seeing debris or dangers earlier. Now we work on what line to take into the turn we just looked up the road to scout out.

Picking good lines on the street is different and I believe far more difficult than choosing lines at the track.

Why...

1. Often street lines in the twisties have ever changing limits of visibility which will also be different through a single turn or series of turns. Track turns have visibility limits but they are the same, lap after lap.

2. Turns on the street are ever changing as compared to the ten or so turns on a track where that never changes.

3. Your lane on the street has far less overall width to use than any track.

4. All street lines can have constant debris dangers, gravel, leaves, manure, newly painted white lines, animals, oncoming traffic in or not in the correct lanes, oil and gas on the pavement, as where track lines usually have only the latter two.

While there are many theories on lines, the reality of street versus the track lines is that the best street line has to be the safest line, as where the line on the track simply has to be the fastest line. In the road, tight twisties, where vision is not possible through the entire turn, and the direction, camber, condition are not known, racing lines are simply not possible or safe.

The first and only issue on choosing street lines is simply answering this question "can you see into and totally through the turn or series of turns?"

Only after you determine this can all other decisions related to lines, street lines, be made.

Can you see into and totally through the turn or series of turns? The line you choose can have some flexibility and you can opt toward a faster, cleaner line if there is no traffic or visible debris of other issues.

From this point forward we will deal with NOT being able to see totally through the turn or series of turns and the best and safest line to use since this is the most common circumstance in the twisties.

Most magazines and articles on street lines show two line options:

1. Enter from berm side of your lane, exit toward center of your lane.

2. Enter from left of your lane, exit toward berm side of your lane.

These lines are options for sure, not always the safest options.

With right or left turns, entering from berm side of your lane and exiting toward center of your lane could result in you duking it out with any oncoming traffic near the center lane marker and/or having you over the center marker in the oncoming lane with any misjudgments.

With right or left turns, entering from left of your lane and exiting toward berm side of your lane will have you off the road if you carry a bit too much speed and in places like Deals Gap this will be into a tree if you are really lucky or if you are unlucky. Over a thousand foot drop off if you are unlucky and miss all the trees.

The advantages of starting in MID LEFT of the center of your lane and ending up MID RIGHT to the center of your lane are:

1. The mid to mid line approach has the turn evolving, going to the outside and away from the oncoming traffic and thus you are already committed and leaned AWAY from this danger.

2. A mid right of the center lane exit has us two to three feet from the edge of the road (not three inches from the edge of the road like in road racing).

3. The mid to mid approach also keeps you away from the debris and oil contaminated center part of your lane. Most of the time you are in the turn, little side benefit? Exiting two or three feet from the edge of the road also gives you some cushion if you are exiting too fast and also allows road space for a throttle adjustments for turns you hit too slow.

OPTION 2
Start in MID RIGHT of the center of your lane and end up MID RIGHT to the center of your lane. Basically you are holding your line in the mid right center of your lane though the turn, for left turns this approach offers the following advantages:

1. The turn is evolving with you leaned over a safe distance away from the oncoming traffic.

2. you are two to three feet from the edge of the road the entire distance through the turn...no variables.

3. The mid to mid approach also keep you totally away from the debris and oil contaminated center part of your lane.

4. Staying two or three feet from the edge of the road also gives you some for throttle adjustments, if you are going too slow or extra run off, if you are in too fast...for right turns the mid to mid approach does have the disadvantage of having one leaned into and heading toward oncoming traffic, this is not the safest line, yet does offer the following advantages.

5. You are still two to three feet from the edge of the road the entire distance through the turn...no variables.

6. You are totally away from the debris and oil contaminated center part of your lane, staying two or three feet from the edge of the road. This also gives you some for throttle adjustments if you are going too slow, or, a few extra feet before running into the oncoming lane if you are carrying too much speed.

Start in MID LEFT of the center of your lane and end up MID LEFT to the center of your lane, start in CENTRE of your lane and end up CENTRE in your lane...

The first and only issue on choosing street lines is simply answering this question "can you see into and totally through the turn or series of turns?"

Only after you determine this can all other decisions related to lines/ street lines be made.

If you can see into and totally through the turn or series of turns and the line you choose can have some flexibility, and you can opt toward a faster, cleaner line if there is no traffic or visible debris of other issues.

If you can not see into and totally through the turn or series of turns, the best line is the safest line...and the safest line is to stay in your lane and go in...mid left in and come out mid right.

Well there you have it ,increased confidence, control and safety in the twisties by looking up the road as far as possible and scanning back combined with the mid in and out line approach.

However, please keep in mind, if we ever ride together, don't follow too close. I am still trying after all these years to do what I say...not do what I do.