Napping - rider fatigue Last night I had a chance to review the whole rider fatigue thing. Coming home from work on a road that I've been driving and/or riding for the last 30 years, I suddenly could not determine where I was. When you've ridden a road thousands of times, you know each corner intimately, and you take a certain line on one corner just to set yourself up for the next. I was exhausted but only 10 miles from home, so I pushed onward. I found myself staring at a rock wall that was coming head-on toward me at about 60 mph. If you had dropped me on the back side of Mars, I wouldn't have been anymore lost than I was at that moment. The road took a 90 degree turn to the right and I almost missed it. Just in time I realized what was happening and although I did not recognize the turn until I was already through it, I made it with a shower of sparks and the smell of human excrement. After that, I didn't get the opportunity to "nap" (if that's what it really was, I think not) because there was someone inside my helmet screaming "YOU STUPID S.O.B., YOU'D BETTER WAKE UP BEFORE YOU KILL YOURSELF" If I had been taking one of those suicidal "micro-naps", not only would there have been one more fatality for the insurance companies to point to, but there would not have been any usable parts left on me or the bike. I've had fatigue like that before. Last year during my BB1500, I hit a motel somewhere in Kansas at about 4 AM because I could see lights ahead but couldn't figure out what they meant. I didn't know if it was road construction, the next town, traffic ahead, or what. I couldn't hold a train of thought long enough to process it. I hit the next off-ramp and took the first available motel. I had already taken several short naps at rest areas. The first nap was good for another 150 miles or so, the next for about 100, and they kept getting less and less effective. After my last one, I was sleepy again before I got into high gear. I didn't make it 25 miles before I pulled off for a long sleep. Riding a motorcycle demands 100% concentration at all times. If you're mentally fatigued, you should not be on the road. A 15 minute micro-nap can keep you going for another hour or so, but eventually you'll have to take a full sleep somewhere or suffer the consequences. When I checked into that motel I didn't set the Screaming Meanie. I just slept until I woke up, which turned out to be about 5 hours. I had covered almost 1200 miles in the past 22 hours and had a full 18 hours to get the final 300 miles required, so time wasn't all that important. There are plenty of places to take a nap. Picnic tables are good. Truck stops. Rest areas. Roadside parks. Leave your gear on and just lie down. 99.9% of the general population is scared to death of any "biker" and nobody will mess with you. If it looks like rain, put the cover on your bike and crawl under it in the normal riding position. Put your feet on the pegs and lay on your tank bag. You'll stay dry and nobody will even know you're in there. That's the ONLY way you'll ever catch me taking a nap while in the saddle. -- Jack Hunt STOC#1870 '91 ST1100 "FeSTus" '95 Suzuki DR250S, Dr. Zook