GoldWing World    

.

I wasn’t nervous when I went to http://www.superbikeschool.com and signed up.  I wasn’t even nervous driving down to College Station to the Texas World Speedway Sunday afternoon with my wife Gail, even though she was a little apprehensive.  I wasn’t nervous while my bike was going through Technical inspection, or when I got chastised for some errors in Gail’s bike that I had overlooked – although the glare I received over that would normally have put fear into my heart!  In the classroom while they described the track procedures, the blue and red flags and how we would proceed throughout the day I was calm as well. In fact I didn’t get nervous until halfway through my first lap around the short track … right about the time I entered turn number five at a leisurely 35 mph and scraped my peg - which until that point had never felt the ground, despite some pretty spirited riding on my part.  NOW I became nervous – just what was I doing here anyway? I’m a fat old Gold Wing rider who is just playing at sport bikes with my 91 CBR-600 F2!

A little background before I get into the meat of the day, as it were.  We arrived at 7 a.m. and were told there were three groups; Gail and I were in “green” which would be the last of the two level 1 classes to go out, the other level 1 group was “yellow” of which a Honda Valk owner was the most interesting private bike. When he took off from the barn everyone just grinned, and I heard one guy comment “wouldn’t that be fun?” – not a single person scoffed.  And an advanced class, the “White” group rounded out our team.  Everyone had stickers and numbers to match (I was a proud Green #2) and they put tape on our left boot to show which group we were in to aid the instructors in keeping track of us. Gail had rented gear, so it was during this time she was fitted (she didn’t keep the tight one that I liked the look of but I got a picture before she changed) and our bikes prepped by taping up the lights etc. and in Gail’s case much more.  You’ll have to read HER ride report for more on that!  (G) Thirty minute sessions were the par, so a full hour after our orientation was over it was our turn on the track and here was where the afore-mentioned panic set in!  

During the first lap an unfamiliar lump grew in my throat which refused to go away as we headed back to the staging area to make sure we understood the drill we’d had explained in the classroom: 4’th gear only, no shifting, no passing, and NO BRAKES.  I gulped back my near-panic and nodded that I understood and then headed off after the bike in front of me, determined to beat back my fear and get on with the job of learning.  The object of this session was to teach us a ‘sense of speed’ and to begin to familiarize us with the concept that we shouldn’t be banging on the brakes if we expect a motorcycle to respond smoothly.  By the end of the day I had this down reasonably well; so much so in fact that even when braking was allowed I found myself hardly using them at all.  For now however this was a new and disturbing concept and I was not happy at all.

During my first lap I scraped both pegs going through turns 3, 4 and 5 and that lump had grown to a goiter the size of a baseball.  I actually had maintained a fair speed as I later discovered my lap time was 2:09.7 but it was NOT easy nor comfortable. After my second lap I was waved aside by my instructor, John for some direction on placing my feet further back on the pegs since they were already scraping and he was concerned I would catch them under the bike – this pause on the side of the track made my 3^rd lap take 4:53:82 – even though he led me around the track to show me the proper entry positions for my skill level (not the best ones I later learned, but safe “easy” ones) and built my confidence that I could survive this.  I later discovered that the subsequent lap showed the change in foot position and seeing some proper entry points had helped: I had run a 2:03.21 - that was more than 5 seconds faster! The rest of the “No passing No brakes” drill were a nightmare of effort and sweat for me.  In fact as I finished my 12’th lap and saw the checkered flag go up I remember thinking “Maybe I should just quit now, my legs are tired, I’m scared and I’m already hitting the limits of my bike on this track: after all, it’s scraping on nearly every turn!

We pulled back into the pits and heading for drinks and a few lucky ones got to take the steering drill early. Gail and I lined up, but they didn’t get to us by the next session. Knowing what I know NOW I wish I’d been able to go through this earlier.

I discussed the ride with my wife and she commented that she was scared and I admitted I had been “nervous” myself.  An understatement but I was unsure if I wanted to call it a day yet and knew if I expressed the absolute terror that had gripped me once or twice we might just both pack up and scoot! Seriously I doubt she would have let me off that easy, and it may even have helped her to know how afraid I’d been on the first few laps but us macho types have to keep some secrets close to the chest ya know?

Keith Code got us all back into the classroom and discussed the finer points of WHY you should go waaaay into a corner before turning and how best to do so.  He then told us that for this drill we would be allowed to shift, using both 3^rd and 4^th gears but still NO BRAKES and passing only if you could leave 8 feet distance between you and the other rider.  He then mentioned the most popular feature of the Turning Points drill: there would be yellow X’s taped on the points he expected us to turn the bike! If we failed to turn the bike at that point it would be an error and we would get direction or a “blue flag” (warning that you aren’t doing something right) … too many blue flags and you would be red flagged which meant you had to leave the track. Out we went again, that familiar lump resonating at first - but being able to use 3^rd gear to engine brake quickly made me feel better.  Then I saw the X’s – it seemed they were pretty far in the corners in most cases, in fact only TWO of the spots marked positions I had been choosing as my turn in points, and one or two were so far off my expected lines that I didn’t even see them until I’d gone past them.  I had to admit however that using those X’s as my turn in point relaxed me tremendously and brought my lap time down almost a full minute.  In fact down to 1:48:63 I found out later.  I was still scraping a bit though and seemingly “fighting” the bike in those tough and scary corners of 3-5.

Another break and this time the classroom lesson was on “Quick Turning” – Keith pointed out that going to the correct turn point and then leaning the bike as quickly as possible would actually result in LESS lean angle.  I couldn’t see how turning “further” back into the corner and doing so rapidly would make much difference but since I’d been scraping my pegs repeatedly in turns 3 and 4 I knew I would find out soon enough. Very light braking was allowed now, and we could again use 3^rd and 4^th gears.  Off I went – turn 1 was a no-brainer, especially coming out of the pit, but 2 had some skill required and I had been going into it at 55 so I decided I’d try 60 and see what difference turning hard (quickly) to get the bike to the lean angle I wanted immediately would have. 

Wow.  I almost went TOO far to the right the bike shifted so quickly!  And while I didn’t really know that my lean angle had been less I knew that I liked the quicker response pressing harder gave me!  Turn 3 came up quickly and I hit my mark and gave a mighty (smooth but very firm) press to the left handlebar then began rolling on the gas. One small scrape in the middle of the curve, but not as bad as I’d been doing and my “sense of speed” told me I was going a little bit faster through this corner then I had been.  Turn 4 was a critical one for me and I had blown my entry point on it several times due to my scraping problems in 3 – this time I hit my mark easily and again moved the bike over into the desired lean as quickly as I felt possible: bingo!  Right where I wanted to go and DEFINITELY faster than I had been going!  The rest of this session (8 laps in all) went well, and I turned my best time of the day during this period: 1:41:03, not too shabby considering the track record is 1:18, this was my first time on the track and I still didn’t know what I was doing!

Fatigue and the 78 degree day were taking their toll on my  290 lb out-of-shape body by now so I was glad lunch time was here.  After a one-hour break we were all back in the classroom again, this time to discuss the finer points of Rider Input. I didn’t realize just how much this one applied to me at the time, but I was soon to learn. After class I was called along with three others who had not yet taken the “Steering exercise” which I’d missed during all the breaks so far.  This proved to be the most valuable of all the education I received that day. Without even realizing it I had been pressing against my handlebars in curves: needlessly stiffening the bike and triggering my survival reactions as the bike would translate every attempted automatic correction straight into my arms, causing them to stiffen even more until at some point I would know something was wrong and experience that “in too hot” feeling.  Keith had mentioned (and the next two sessions were going to prove) that once you got the bike to the proper lean angle, unless some other action affected the bike (rolling on or off the throttle, braking etc.) the bike would stay at that angle even if you took your hands off the bars.  I had trouble believing this, since I’d ALWAYS had to continue to press against the bar to “keep the bike from coming back up” in tight corners.  The steering exercise helped me learn to keep my weight off the bars and solidified what we’d just gone over in Rider Input.  Then it was time to hit the track and practice what I’d been taught.

Even though I was tired and deliberately decided not to push for the rest of the days my times stayed under 1:49 for the 5 laps I ran this session, testing the “no hands” technique by literally keeping my hands off the bars after making the steering input except for my thumb which I used to control the roll-on … in fact several pictures taken of me from this session look as if I’m “covering the clutch and brake” since I held my fingers out loose to force myself not to grip the bars. It worked: after my first “trial” lap all my times were within three tenths of a second of each other, showing consistency - for the first time since coming out on the track I felt COMPLETELY in control!  It worked!  I really felt good about my skill level too when after completing the chicane with record ease I slowed and was passed by an instructor who gave me an enthusiastic “thumbs-up” to show that I had done it right.  Even though I’d not been pushing on the straight like I had been earlier (going a moderate 90 or so rather than the 115 plus of some of my earlier laps) my times were good, and even more importantly consistent. 

I was having fun but was feeling very tired so when the checkered flag indicated we were going back in to the pits I actually felt a little relief.  After an all-too short break we were back in the classroom for the final bit of advice on level 1: Two Step Turning.

In this last class Keith stressed the importance of all the lessons we’d learned so far, and helped us to debunk the “look and you will go” MSF rule.  As he said “as beginners you need to know that, and for the most part it’s true – but now we’re expecting more of you.”  The key to this session was going to be to look into the turn exactly two bike-lengths before reaching our turn in point …he drew several diagrams helping us to realize the benefit of “searching” for the best entry point while ignoring the edge of the track coming at you in the best way possible: not looking at it!  Despite my exhaustion (for which I took some electrolytes) I went out confident that this would help me. I was pulled off after my first lap and given additional instruction – seems even though I’d been working on staying loose on the bars I was still raising up a bit too much and inadvertently putting weight on at times. Gail got a little one-on-one with an instructor and then we were once more into the fray. Another 4 laps, some additional instruction and a final easy lap and it was time to go back into the pits and call it a day.

That night we ate at a great Chinese place off Texas Avenue (business hwy 6) on the way to our Hotel and then crashed early and slept hard.  I woke with sore legs and a great deal more confidence in what I could make a motorcycle do.  I also woke realizing that my wife’s best time had matched my starting times – and I knew she had not been speeding on the straight or pushing all that hard so all her improvement had been done where it counted most: by maintaining slow steady improvement in the corners! 

Would I do it again?  Hell yes. In fact I probably WILL do it again once I trade up my bike!  I’ll also be seriously considering getting some track time via the http://lonestartrackdays.com club so I can experience the track and practice these new skills again. At $120 a day (add an extra $30 if you show up the day of rather than pre-register) it’s a true bargain: and they even have some guys who’ve taken several track schools that will offer advice and training for free too! 

The track is very different from the street, but the skills you learn there cross over and make you much more confident in your ability to control the bike.  It also made me more knowledgeable of what the bike is capable of if I just leave it alone.  I had always told my wife “trust the bike” and yet I had not been truly doing that myself. This class helped to drive home the point that sometimes less is more.  As Keith Code says you are a controlling input on the bike, but you are also a passenger, so be a good one and don’t upset or fight the bike.  The important lesson is knowing when to be which, and how to let the bike do what it is best at: GO!