The Daily Race - Life is All About Timing

Life is all about timing. This time-hungry world is rules by the sweeping of the second hand, the blink of the digital clock. Our lives are ruled by the eroding sands of time. We drag ourselves out of bed when our alarm says, clock on, clock off. Even the most basic of human needs is controlled by the timing of television.

Tme constrictis, controls. It turns us into robots.

Except when it comes to motorcycles. Timing your ride makes even the most mundane routes come alive. That filthy twisty road on the way to work becomes your personal TT. Setting a target time gives you something to beat next time out. Shave a few seconds off with a bit of committed filtering, get on the throttle harder out of the corner, feel the back twitch, but don't back off.

This isn't a race, but you are pushing yourself. Split-times tell the story. Past the post office in under 5:27 and you're on a hot lap, into Samut Prakarn in 9:40 and you're on a for new lap record. Three minutes later you're at your destination. The record is shattered, your brain is fried. No one else will understand, but your personal satisfaction is overwelming.

How you do it is up to you. A Casio style digital watch strapped on a yoke works just as well as a laptimer, but lacks the seconds-ticking drame. Laptimers on the latest sport motorcycles are mini-dataloggers with average and maximum speed and laptimes, giving you the chance to re-run the frenzy of the last 13:20:23. Incriminating? Possibly. Do we love them? Without boubt.