Anyone notice that if youre going to fall off or hit something its going to be a large rock or a tree, even if its the only tree in the area.

Also seems to affect motorists who seem to take out lamposts quite often,

Any reason why.

Sod's law of specific gravity.

As a general rule of thumb, if you look at it, you'll crash into it so don't look at trees and rocks and you'll be fine

Board in bon yes thats my understanding

it works for the edge of board walks as well

Apparently skiers and snow boarders have the same problem……

I bent my handlebars on this one on Saturday.

HERE

It's called Target Fixation and something you can really work on both out on the trails and on the roads, be it in a car, bike, whatever. It's an advanced skill that can be both taught and learnt.

It's about where you look, especially when having a "moment", you must look at where on the trail, road etc where you want to end up.
Look at the obstacle and that's what'll happen.

I've just Googled and there's a Wiki entry. Ask any advance m'cycle rider / racer and they'll tell you about it & the training involved to try & combat it.

I got sucked in to some gloop once, stopped me in my tracks and I topled over still cliped in and smacke my head on a 1 inch round 1 inch high tree stump!!

I hadn't looked at it though!!

Aye, target fixation.
If I catch myself doing it and I have time – I'll shout at myself (in my head) and look directly at something on the other side of the trail and try to adjust.
The other week though, I was on a fast descent and came screaming into a corner in a different line to usual, slammed the brakes on as usual ready to hit the corner but then thought, "this line is different, I'm going to have to turn tighter, what if I'm not going slow enough when I hit that corner, I'm going to hit that bush if I don't. oh look, a bush" and of course my body stiffened up and I took a straight line towards the bush – over the bars into a hawthorn… my shin is still all bruised 🙁

Eureeka!!!!

I'm saved I'll just close my eyes and all will be ok???

I have suffered with look at it and bang I'm on my ass!!

Now try really hard to look past the scary bits and so far it's working ok!!

Use the force and all

It's the Heskey syndrome. look at the goalkeeper the aim the ball straight at him.

interesting R4 programme the other day where they reported a trial of penalty taking using eye tracking equipment. Those that had their penalties saved were looking at the keeper as they hit the ball. Those that scored were looking at the corners of the goal. It also showed that goalkeepers who moved around and distracted the penalty takers got more of them to look at them and thus saved more, lets just hope the rocks and trees weren't listening.

i have not ridden a trail that goes through a tree yet (i know there are a couple) but in general terms the trail goes around them, why people look at trees is beyond me 😉

Your mother was doing you a favour when she told you to look where you're going.

i know. i was brought up so well 🙂

When i hit a tree i always think its retribution for all the trees ive cut up in work, but they do seem magnetic or something thats the point i was asking.

Pagans.

Y're right about fixation. Descending a rocky bit at speed today, the back kicked out on a loose rock, then back, the saddle came up and bumped me forward and off balance (it was at full height) causing an "oh sh111t", I looked at a big boulder, hit it and went over the bars – all in about 1.5 seconds.

I got off lucky with my landing. Worst of all, my rear brake lever had sheared off the bar.

Your mother was doing you a favour when she told you to look where you're going.

Erm, no.
This is exacly the point.
You don't want to look where you are going (look at where the bike's front wheel is pointed) but where you want to end up (where the head & eyes are facing).
The two are not the same.

Link to more here, but in a nut shell….

To be honest, I've always surprised the mtn bike magazines and web forums aren't awash with this sort of basic information, basic in that it's something to employ & practise on every quick ride. It's a m'cycle rider's bread & butter, especially out on track; this and counter steering and pick-up drills (to a point).

It's easy to prove that target fixation is every rider's worst enemy and it has many forms. Training your eyes is the key to smooth, fast and confident riding. Level II brings them into focus and helps you to build on the solid foundation of understanding all or what you achieved from Level I. “The eyes have it.”

1. What is a reference point and how many do you need for each and every turn you ride?
2. What is the key to improving a riders understanding of their riding space and can you create and use more?
3. What do you do when you restrict your vision and how do you cure this?
4. What is the best way to use your eyes to the maximum and gain the most information with the least effort?
5. What signals the end of a corner? Can you change it or are you a lazy end-of-turn rider?

A rider's visual skills are the ultimate foundation of his riding, the more you see, and the more confident you are. The better you can interpret what you see the easier and more confident riding becomes . In other words, you are as good as your visual skills, no better. If you don't know where you are then it is very difficult to decide where you want to go and how to get there. Level II addresses this vital aspect of riding. As always, one step at a time.

1. Ride with cornering precision.
2. Have a choice of lines.
3. Have more space in the corner. More space equals more time and ‘rhythm’
4. Cure target fixation, any rider’s worst enemy.
5. Drive harder to the next turn – just like the MotoGP guys!

Vision is everything and after Level II you will know how it works and how to avoid and beat the pitfalls that you naturally have. You will beat the survival reactions that make you do the wrong thing at the wrong time in the wrong place.

Ti29er – semantics. You go where you look.

This above Level 2 is the one level riders go back to, time after time to re-do, especially at the start of the race season.
It's worth its weight in gold and I'm surprised no one has adapted the training models used and molded them to the mtn bike world.

In fact, it's one huge difference between the m'cycle & mtn bike world – very few mtn bike riders actually take formal tuition to improve their riding abilities, whereas it the complete opposite in the m'cycle world. I've spent thousands on advanced m'cycle instruction but nothing on mtn bike courses to improve my ride skills.