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Did a track day and survived


beamergirl

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Well, did my first track day and wanted to share my experience.

 

Rode up to NH 7/31, took a nice scenic route over Hogback Mt., VT and after @ 5 hrs. arrived at my hotel in Loudon. The weather couldn’t have been nicer! After settling in, took a little ride out to the NHIS – it is big! Returned back to the hotel, a little anxious, and turned in early for a good nights sleep.

 

Waking early the next morning (had to be at the track by 7:00), had little time to really think about the day ahead – had to pack, load up the bike and check out. Oh, and the weather wasn’t looking good, so kept checking the greens/yellows moving towards Concord frown.gif! A track day in the rain was not something I was looking forward to.

 

At the track, met and conversed with others standing in line. Was pleased to see another woman there and we stood in line together waiting to sign the paper stating that we were sound of mind and would not hold anyone accountable for any cosmetic alterations as a result of a “get down”. We then moved on through the gates and I half expected to hear them slam closed behind us eek.gif! What a set up Keith Code has; all the bikes were lined up just waiting in the bays and the trailer with the food/gear was awesome. We were all called into the classroom for introduction of his staff and then we were split into our groups with level 1 staying for a class session.

 

Walking out of the classroom, the first thing we noticed was the rain = wet track! Waiting for the bikes to come back in off the track, the worse happened and a rider went down! We all watched as he got up, he looked to be ok thumbsup.gif! His bike was picked up and it was announced to get geared up and ready to ride. Nervous? Understatement of the day!! The skill we would be working on was throttle control, 4th gear, and no brakes!

 

Getting on #21 Ninja, I started laughing – this is nothing like the K1200RS! The bike was much lighter, felt like you could fall head over heels over the handlebars, the foot pegs where “skinny” and it wouldn’t start crazy.gif!!! Lesson one was really how to start your bike dopeslap.gif. Finally getting out on the track, in the rain, the first lap got me thinking what the heck did I get myself into. The second lap was, hey this isn’t too bad except for us all being bunched up! Third lap – we were on our own, no more follow the leader and I was starting to feel better on the bike. Stayed in third gear for two more laps, then bumped it up to fourth and was grinning from ear to ear grin.gif!

 

So the day went, class time followed by track time with a new skill each time out. The rain stopped, it got HOT and we all noticed improvement in our riding. The best was hitting the yellow “Xs” for turn in, once you found them all! The bowl was the greatest part of the track; the last two turns consisting of a tight right/left before the straight stretch were finally mastered, 5th gear was very enjoyable and brakes? What brakes?

 

Can’t say enough about Misty (and Jason ?) who were our coaches, Misty’s instructions helped immensely as did her encouragement – Thanks a bunch! Next track day(s), hopefully at NHIS with Code, will consist of level 2 and 3 back to back. Had a blast and highly recommend his track days. clap.gif

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Dances_With_Wiener_Dogs

If after riding your K bike you'd fall over the handlebars of the track bike, think about us RT riders! I think it'd take some getting used to, not worrying about looking around you. That's always been my biggest gripe about racer-replica sport bikes, the such forward lean means your visibility in traffic is nil. Meaning my ability to look around at traffic. Of course if you're on a track, you mostly have to be concerned about your front view and to an extent I guess, the sides.

 

Awesome pic here:

IMG_7325.jpg

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YAY!!! clap.gif

 

Glad you had fun on your first track day!! Misty is an awesome instructor; I just had her a few months ago for Level 4. I usually get James for my on track coach, and he's great too.

 

California Superbike School really is a first class operation. I love all the instructor feedback. My first non-school track day, I kept waiting for my instructor to come talk to me! (Fortunately, I had Russell there to offer his feedback!) thumbsup.gif

 

BTW, if it had been raining on my first track day, I probably would have ran the other way! Good for you for sticking it out!!! cool.gif

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Lisa,

 

Level 4! - that's great! I can't wait to do level 2, more of the vision skills and hopefully the body positioning.

 

Steve,

 

You'd be surprised how fast you get use to the lean forward position. At first bikes passing on the left and right was a little nerve racking, but a few times around and it doesn't matter because you are so focused on learning a skill and getting it right they just fade away.

 

Now it's just practice, practice and practice some more grin.gif

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De,

 

You'll be in level 4 before you know it! It gets to be such an addiction! I did level 2 one month after level 1, then on to level 3 about 4 months later, then level 4 about 7 months after L3. Only reason I waited so long was because there was the holidays and a huge project at my job that demanded all my attention for a few months there! If possible, I recommend getting to the next levels as quick as you can; that way, you don't spend time remembering what you learned last time; you just start on the new stuff. (I know, it isn't always possible!) smirk.gif

 

As for Level 2, I pretty much spent all of level 4 working on level 2 stuff! It's an important level, where you really learn visual skills. One note: For me, I didn't get the visual skills down right away; it's something I have to constantly practice, practice, practice to master (again, I spent all of level 4 working mostly level 2 drills!!). You might take to it quicker than me though! During level 4, it all sort of clicked a little better, and my lap times came way down as a result. You do get to do some body position work toward the end of Level 2, plus you get to ride the lean bike, so they teach you good form on that (I was shocked at how many muscles have to work so hard to get the body position right! If you do have time between L2 and L3, I highly recommend getting the legs, back, neck and ab muscles in tip-top shape!).

 

Level 3 really explores body position in depth. It's pretty fun to see the pictures when you really get the body position down better! Of course, my visual skills went out the window when I started on body position stuff; they kind of fight with one another. When you get your body low, it gets hard to see, so you sit up! That's where those neck/back muscles come in; to peer up so you can see through the corner when your body is low/hanging off the bike!

 

Maybe some day I'll get back out east and we can ride a track together! Or, we have lots of tracks out here in the west... grin.gif

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Dee,

Congrats clap.gif I never had any doubts, Just got off the phone with the good folks at superbike school, I'm trying to squeeze in a extra day before the 2 day camp on August 23+24 Only managed to get on waiting list.

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Thanks Paul and Ray; wave.gifSuzanne

 

Paul, love the signature line grin.gif A photo (avatar) is worth a thousand words!

 

RevRay - where are you doing the 2 day school? I spoke with others who had been to Poconos - they said the track there is flat frown.gif New Hampshire has dips and dives with the corners thrown in - love it thumbsup.gif They even have a groundhog that might just decide to run out in front of you thinking it's auditioning for a Gieco ad! DAMHIK eek.gif Have a good time at your school this month!

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Unfortunately Lisa my next track day won't be until next year frown.gif Hopefully practicing will keep things fresh, but then we have ssnnooow for a few months. If it's a light winter like last year, will be able to take bike out from time to time.

 

They had the lean bike at NH and everyone wanted to try it; now that I think about it, didn't see anyone on it all day confused.gif

 

Misty was giving another person in our group some specific instruction about their body position - push back in the seat, lean forward with inside corner elbow bent down and lean into the corner, if you need to pop the leg out - it's right there to do so. The butt pretty much stayed put. She was very helpful, positioning their body the way it should be and then putting them into the position that was wrong, pointing out why it was wrong and then putting them back into the correct position so they could see the difference.

 

Anytime you are in the neighborhood - please let me know - it'd be great to do a track together or just ride thumbsup.gif I do have relatives (sister-in-law) in San Diego......that'd be a trip!

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russell_bynum

Misty was giving another person in our group some specific instruction about their body position - push back in the seat, lean forward with inside corner elbow bent down and lean into the corner, if you need to pop the leg out - it's right there to do so. The butt pretty much stayed put. She was very helpful, positioning their body the way it should be and then putting them into the position that was wrong, pointing out why it was wrong and then putting them back into the correct position so they could see the difference.

 

With Level 1, they don't do anything about body position unless you're doing something really wrong like cross-controlling. Level 2 is when they let you on the lean bike and you get to really figure out how to hang off. I found that to be tremendously helpful since I really had no idea how to sit on a sportbike...much less hang off of one.

 

Level 4 they crank up the resistance on those outriggers and the lean bike becomes the "slide" bike...they tell you to get out there in a turn and go against everything you've ever been taught...snap the throttle open. The rear tire spins and you get to apply the pickup drill (from the end of level 2) to recover from it. It's a little bit scary but insanely fun. cool.gif

 

I think they don't run any of their off-track bikes in the wet, and since you had rain, that might be why they didn't run anyone. Next time yo go back, ask Cobie to tell you what would happen if (hypothetically) you took the slide bike out on a wet skidpad. grin.giflmao.gif

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Russell,

 

Well, this puzzles me a bit, so I'll ask:

 

Some of the people in Level 1 group had done level 1 several times before confused.gif The person getting the specific instruction about body position had taken this level before. Out on the track they were definitely faster than a lot of us!

 

Should a level I take seem difficult, I'd seek out as much input from the coach as possible and then follow up with a few general track days just to practice as they'd be less expensive than repeating a level. That's just a personal approach thingy though.

 

After I ask Cobie about the lean bike, should I be ducking grin.gif

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I don't know why they'd be repeating level 1, 2 or 3, unless they crashed out of their previous times and are re-taking it cause they didn't finish the last time. Now level 4 you can repeat as much as you want, as it is directed study; you work on what you need to work on, and have a coach that assists you with that.

 

And yes, duck if you ask Cobie about the slide bike in the wet conditions! thumbsup.gif

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