There is a passage in the ancient book The Art of War that says, “If training is hard, war is easy. But if training is easy, war is hard.” Nothing could be more true for the HUMM. Missed another turn, damn it! Ruts. Pot holes. Sand. Hills. Animals. Where is the next gas? Look out for that dog!! Think you can handle with all this and read a map without training? Sure and my bike has never been over 5,000 RPM. Some HUMM riders can’t handle the required mental pressure for hours after hour because they have not prepared themselves for the event. To extend your mental range make your bike an automatic extension of your mind. Clutch, throttle, steering and brakes must happen automatically. There is no time to think about where a lever is or what it does or how far it needs to move. Control function and body movement must be automatic and fast. Why? Because the less mental energy you use for the bike the more you have available for maps, navigation and threats to safety. Take some training in both street and dirt riding, read some training books and then get out there and practice. Even an hour after work is valuable. NOW, okay? Not a week or two before the HUMM.
