crashing.
ok so here it is... i am officially an addict.
school was 1st. we walked the track, watched our instructors from the corners take each turn. i was kinda dissapointed that they didnt spend more time on actuall riding technique... most of the class was on our particular track (ppir) & where to take the turns (which of course was good, but the pictures they drew pretty could come straight out of sport riders rider technique section). so we go out for our 1st session.. no brakes.. after 3 laps we get pulled in (2 to 1 student teacher ratio). & they tell us to start going faster & using brakes. so we start moving. my suspension is obviously not set up right cause i am all over the place.. i cant remember the last time my bike was that squirly in a corner... i felt like a total beginner bobbing my bike up & down telling my self to relaxe & steer w/my legs (my arms were stiff w/alot of pressure on the bars.). my a$$ end was wobbling all over the place under hard braking, plus im on street tires. so my group gets a little ahead of me in the tight stuff & the straights (modded r6's vs stock 97gsxr600) but i catch em in the fast turn 2 sweeper. we come in talk a min then go back out. this time each of us lead so teach can watch our lines. i was led 1st for a few laps then the other guy, i got left cause i messed up the s's, then my nuetral saftey kill switch popped out & i had to pit. i missed the rest of that session.
so now its time for our novice/student race. im gridded outside row 3, flag is up & im in 3rd (would have been 1st but couldnt figure a way around the guy in front of me).. in to turn 2 im holding good... then the bigger bikes pass me. i was hitting my apexes too early all day so i lose some more time in the tight turns. but i gain it back. i end up near the end after 4 laps but figured out my lines & started making some passes.. i pass a bike in fast turn 2 (as u can tell i like this turn.. wfo). go through the infield & see him poking around me on the right hander b4 the s's so i pick it up. into the final left on to the banked front straight.. im scraping pegs all the way through & when i hit the flat-banking transition i bottom out or run out of tire or sumthin cause im sliding on my a$$. i run over pick up my bike.. start it.. but it falls cause the steering damper is bent & the forks are locked. so my weekend is over early (i was scheduled for 2 more races) cause u have to have a damper to race... i should be ready in 2 wks for the next one.
lessons...
i need race tires.. my street 207's are trashed.. ive never seen a street compound look like they do.. they are all trashed looking like a hard ridden 207gp. i look at them & the rear has literally a few milimeters of unused tread on the edges & the left where i wrecked has no unused tread. the front has like 1/4+ of an inch unused.. so i am assuming the profile was wrong. b4 i got my diploma i had to discuss why i crashed & answer correctly.. i told him my suspension was probably off (soft) & i over rode the limits of the tires... i guess he agreed cause i passed.
i need to take my forks to race teck.. they are so soft... the wiggly tail. & learn how to better dial in the suspension so i can concentrate on braking/downshifting/cornering/exit.
yoga or sumthin.. i was so nervous, i really needed to relax. i was so stiff.
this is something i thought i would never say.. i needed to lean off MORE. i guess i wasnt leaning off very far. i think my new leathers were constricting cause it felt funny to get very far off the seat. i was scraping pegs in some corners regularly w/out touching my knee down... my right puck looks new & my left is barely scratched.
so im gonna take that school again. then hopefully a national school will come around town soon. in the meen time i will be preparing for weekend #2 in 2 weeks.
a sort of silver lining is that i personally witnessed 3 more crashes in the exact same place & 2 of them were expert level riders.
