"To have a successful outcome, you have to know what you're up against, and you have to be able to predict the future."
              — Freddie Spencer

When we teach our riding schools, I like to talk about visualization. This technique is used by people who excel in every type of activity, from professional sports to taking examinations. It also applies to racing and street riding.

To have a successful outcome, you have to know what you're up against, and you have to be able to predict the future. You also have to know how you're going to fit into that future. For street riders, this might mean anticipating road conditions on the way to breakfast. The first part of knowing what might happen is asking yourself the right questions. What's the weather like? Is it a holiday with more traffic than usual? Is gravel likely to be in certain turns? Are deer or other animals going to be on the move? These are just a few of the variables that smart riders will think about and anticipate before ever taking the bike out of the garage.

The Race...
The same principle applies to racing. In 1983, I fought one of the toughest battles in modern Grand Prix history with Kenny Roberts. Kenny and I had twelve races to find out who was going to be World Champion. It was a season where the decision came right down to the wire. His 4-cylinder Yamaha was a lot faster than my 3-cylinder Honda, but my bike turned better. I had found out how to use the strengths of my machine to win where another rider might have finished further back in the pack. Because of this, Kenny and I split the wins and pole positions right down the middle.

After eleven of twelve events, I had won six races to Kenny's five. In order to become World Champion, I knew I had to finish no worse than second place at Imola, the circuit where the last race of the year would be held. I also knew it would be a difficult race. If Kenny could get past me and slow me down enough that another bike could get between us (pushing me back to a third place finish) the championship would go to Roberts. But I wanted to win that title as badly as anything in my life.

The Technique...
The evening before the race, when everyone had gone home, I let my mind relax. Racetracks can be one of the most peaceful places in the world when there's no racing going on. This is especially true at sunset. There's all that real estate out there, and the track just quietly waiting for the competitors to come out and challenge it. That night, alone in the motorhome, I closed my eyes and played out every scenario I could think of for the coming race. I knew where Kenny was faster, and where I had the edge. I also knew where he would try to make his move. But there was more to it than that. I also knew I had to manage tire wear and traction. My style had always been to rocket away from the field at the start, to open up a commanding lead that would make my competitors have to work hard to catch me. Kenny knew this, of course. He also knew that I was wearing my tires much faster than he was, and he'd be able to catch me later in the race if he put his head down.

That's where the visualization strategy came into play. Over and over again, I pictured the race as I thought it would unfold. I knew I'd get the holeshot, and that Kenny and the rest of the field would be playing catch-up. I also knew almost exactly where he'd catch me, and where he would pass me. That was alright, though, because I knew where I could pass him back. The whole strategy hinged on me keeping the pace up by not letting Kenny slow us down in the chicanes. Once I did that, barring any unforeseen problems or a mechanical failure, I knew I'd have the championship.

The Victory...
In the end, it happened almost exactly as I had planned. Sure enough, Kenny passed me in a fast section of the track. I stuck to him like glue, and made my move to pass him back in the one place I knew I had a clear advantage on him -- the left kink after the start-finish line. Then I could hold him off for a lap or so. Then he'd get by and really slow the pace down in the chicanes (Imola had five chicanes at that time). When I knew we were far enough ahead of the third-place rider, I let Kenny go on to win, and I took second place and the championship. My strategy had worked -- I had become the youngest 500cc World Champion in history.

Visualization works so well because, if you practice it, your mind already believes it has done whatever you've visualized. That lets you relax, and everything seems familiar and natural as events unfold. As I've just shown, this is true even at the World Championship level. The next time you're planning a street ride or road race, try visualizing the event ahead of time, over and over again. If you do this, you'll see the difference in your performance -- and in how much you enjoy yourself while riding.