Management Lessons from Motorcycling

I have had my motorcycle for a few months now and the odometer reads over 6000. That is quite a bit for an old dog like me. A big plus for me is the amount of introspection one does on long rides and the lessons to be learnt along the way. I have attempted to share some of this new found knowledge below:

I join a group of CBR owners on Facebook. The idea is that it is a lot more fun to ride in a group. The first ride with my new friends is to Kolar for breakfast. It's just 70 Kms (~50 miles) away, so it's a good choice for a short ride. We assemble at the crack of dawn and set off down the road. I settle into my cruising speed and quickly realize that it just won't cut it with this group. They are a bunch of youngsters who think they will live forever. I quickly catch up but I am pushing my Honda to it's limits.  Until now, I had thought that the maximum speed of the bike was 125 kmph. It turns out that I was wrong; I touch 149 Kmph. That's when I learn my first lesson:

Management Lesson from Motorcycling: Give the youngsters a free run and they will push you to limits that you did not think was possible.

I hit a bump in the road and it sends my unmentionables crashing into my rib cage. Calvin will do well not to expect a brother or a sister anytime soon as it is going to take a few weeks for gravity to take its course on the aforementioned unmentionables. I crouch low over the bike to try and relieve the pain. Surprisingly, this works to my advantage - it reduces the air resistance and I gain a little more speed.

Management Lesson from Motorcycling: A bump in the road is not always bad. It sometimes teaches you new ways of doing things.

Management Lesson from Motorcycling: Watch out for the bumps when you let the youngsters lead or you could get seriously hurt or even killed.

We have breakfast at Adigas where we gorge ourselves on butter soaked goodies. You don't have to worry about your cholesterol when you ride at these speeds! The ride back is more relaxing though I now consider as sedate what I thought earlier was my maximum speed.

A second ride with the group is coming up and I am bit hesitant to go. This is much further - it's a 300Km round trip to Lepakshi - and I am not sure I can survive that distance with this group. Moreover, I am still a bit tender from the injuries sustained in my last trip and this serves as a constant reminder of the perils of overspeeding. Over 50 bikers register for the event and this swings the balance in favor of my going.

I set off from home in the pre-dawn darkness and find that the stray dogs don't like to be woken up early. They chase me down the street, their snapping jaws dangerously close to my ankle. I try to speed past them but they time their runs such that they intercept me perfectly. I finally figure out the way to out-fox them: I ride slowly and unthreateningly until I am close to them and then suddenly accelerate away. They still try to give chase but lose precious seconds trying to adjust to the change of pace; and a few seconds is all my Honda needs to pull away out of reach. I am amazed at the negative energy of the dogs. The most important thing they do all day is to lie around and lick themselves and yet they put their heart and soul into trying to stop me from going about by legitimate business. (I am being nice to the dogs by not mentioning where they lick themselves).

Management Lesson from Motorcycling: There will always dogs who will try to get in your way. They have nothing to do with you and are not going anywhere themselves - their only objective is to stop you for the fun of it. Don't let them get to you!

Management Lesson from Motorcycling: Let sleeping dogs lie. Slink past them; if you try to roar past them, they will gang up on you and hamper your progress.

I reach the meeting point and am pleasantly surprised. Forty two bikes have turned up and they are all parked in a row. There are a bunch of "seniors" who seem to have everything under control. We are bunched into three groups of 14 each and the rules are laid out: Each group has a leader and a sweeper; the leader sets the speed; single file only; no overtaking; and no falling behind the sweeper; minimum five bike lengths spacing. I am in the first group. The leader sets out and we all fall in line behind him. We hit the highway and pretty soon we are cruising at 110. Hand signals are relayed back from the leader so there is enough advance warning of bumps and speed breakers. We reach our destination pretty quickly after an uneventful ride. All my body parts are safe, but the exhilaration of speed is distinctly missing.

Management Lesson from Motorcycling: Laying down processes makes it more likely that you will reach your destination, but you will definitely be slower.

Management Lesson from Motorcycling: Process reduces risk, but you will also never push any boundaries.