You’ll see all sorts of “riding advice” all over forums, websites and the corporate motorcycle media (in which, often-as-not, it actually comes across as a form of arse-covering enjoyment-suppression and H&S-derived responsibility-denial), but you won’t have seen anything like this:
These are the Moscow Rules - the possibly apocryphal, informal code of conduct for Western spies operating behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War, which is as equally-applicable to riding bikes as anything I’ve read (with a couple of minor adjustments):
These are the Moscow Rules - the possibly apocryphal, informal code of conduct for Western spies operating behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War, which is as equally-applicable to riding bikes as anything I’ve read (with a couple of minor adjustments):
- Assume nothing [or assume everything]
- Murphy is right.
- Never go against your gut; it is your operational antenna.
- Don't look back; you are never completely alone [should say always look back: lifesavers]
- Everyone is potentially under opposition control.
- Go with the flow, blend in [don’t let the scameras see you]
- Vary your pattern and stay within your cover.
- Any operation can be aborted. If it feels wrong, it is wrong [2nd-gear mingers past a police station, like Cal Crutchlow in the Thundersprint the other year]
- Maintain a natural pace [making progress!]
- Lull them into a sense of complacency [yes officer]
- Build in opportunity, but use it sparingly.
- Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee [??]
- Don't harass the opposition [cagers]
- There is no limit to a human being's ability to rationalize the truth [yes officer]
- Technology will always let you down [esp. if it’s Italian]
- Pick the time and place for action.
- Keep your options open.
- Once is an accident. Twice is coincidence. Three times is an enemy action [yes officer]
