I thought I'd share my trip to miller step by step. It all starts here at DCA:
Delta flight 2233 departs gate 19 at 545 pm.
(http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s255/jimwatsondc/Ducati/2011-07-05_16-54-30_463.jpg)
Is that your wheelchair? :)
Quote from: tocino on July 05, 2011, 02:47:19 PM
Is that your wheelchair? :)
Not on the way out, but you never know about the way home! :o
Just got in from the airport and settled into my fine Hampton Inn room. (Note to anyone that ever comes here: Hotel is fine, just far removed from what little bit of town there is. Choose Holiday Inn Express or something in that area if you don't want to drive everywhere...which you'll do anyway.)
If I was superstitious, I'd have had a good sign upon my arrival: A double rainbow! Don't know if you can see it very well in the pix.
(http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s255/jimwatsondc/Ducati/2011-07-05_20-33-31_57.jpg)
Interesting fact about Tooele: Sister City to Kambarka, Russia.
(http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s255/jimwatsondc/Ducati/DSCN0008.jpg)
Day starts early tomorrow (at least for the unemployed who sleep til noon on a usual day [roll]), so I'm headed to bed. I'll try and throw some crap up by phone tomorrow, but will give you a good rundown at the end of the day as well.
Get to the important stuff, like where to drink good beer and look at nice ladies! [laugh]
Any chance of onboard video? The WSBK guys raved about that track the first time they went. Have fun! Don't end up joining them Scientologists! ;)
Quote from: The Mad King Pepe' on July 06, 2011, 04:19:34 AM
Get to the important stuff, like where to drink good beer and look at nice ladies! [laugh]
In Tooele?!?! You've got to be kidding! The only thing going here is the 24 hour walmart.
And by the way it's too damn early!!
Breakfast beer!
(http://pictures.funnyforum.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/attention-whore.jpg)
sorry.....maybe im just jealous. Cant wait to follow your diary.
The day starts off with breakfast in the gear truck: eggs, fruit, pastries and such. Nice little spread...but is that why we came? [roll]
This is the truck:
(http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s255/jimwatsondc/DSCN0011.jpg)
Registration (with Missy) is during breakfast when you sign away your right to sue if you kill yourself during this activity. Then you get your gear from Jessica. All the while, Katie is herding you around like a sheep dog. She always knows right where you supposed to be. Pretty amazing, being able to keep track of 32 students, 8 track coaches, off-track skill coaches, video coach, mechanic, corner workers and Keith Code himself. She's good!!
The technical seminars are held in the pit garages. And this is what you see out the door:
(http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s255/jimwatsondc/DSCN0013.jpg)
And if you stand on the blocks between the garages and the pit:
(http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s255/jimwatsondc/DSCN0014.jpg)
And the most beautiful sight of the day: BMW S1000RR
(http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s255/jimwatsondc/DSCN0009.jpg)
This is my bike, #16:
(http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s255/jimwatsondc/DSCN0022.jpg)
(http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s255/jimwatsondc/DSCN0021.jpg)
(http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s255/jimwatsondc/DSCN0018.jpg)
(http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s255/jimwatsondc/DSCN0015.jpg)
After registration, the classroom sessions begin. This was my first time here, so I was in Level I...everybody starts there!
Level I has 5 drills:
1) Throttle Control: (This session was taught by Steve Brouggy, the director of the Australian program) Learn to use your throttle effectively and it's amazing how solid your bike will feel! This is a skill that is constantly being worked on in all of the drills throughout the day. When Steve was describing the drill, several of us were looking at each other like, "Are you make the beast with two backsing kidding me?!? Fourth gear? No brakes?!?" It was better than it sounds at first though. (Plus they start you off in Rain mode, which is a little like driving miss daisy mode. [laugh])
2) Turn points: This is the whole reason I wanted to come to CSS...I sucked at choosing lines when out riding! This is where line choice starts...with big yellow tape X's on the track that tell you where to turn. Woo-hoo! Two gears (3rd and 4th) still in rain mode. Still no brakes, so you're still expected to work extra hard on your throttle control.
3) Quick turning: You've all heard the saying, "Hit and quit it!" This was my take on steering inputs. Get it done so you can get back on the gas. (Don't mix the two, you'll get the "chop it off" hand signal...hand drawn across the neck...as in you're make the beast with two backsing up and being dangerous!)
4) Frankie goes to Hollywood: RELAX! Don't fight the bike; it can do it. This drill focuses on minimizing bad rider inputs. Choose the line, put the bike on it and let it do its job! 3 gears and light BRAKES!
5) Two-step turning: Putting the physical skills from the earlier drills with the visual skills of apex choice and exiting the corner. Interesting concept here that differs from MSF and Total Control (look through the corner's exit)...In the 2-step, you choose your turn in point, visually locate your apex, turn-in, then look through the exit. This drill cleaned up my lines an incredible amount! I felt good after this one and worked on this and the other drills throughout the remaining 2 track sessions. (One day schools only get the 5 track sessions and have one coach for every 3 students instead of 2...bonus sessions for 2-day folks!)
At the end of every track session, Eric (my on-track coach) provided feedback and suggestions covering each of the drill skills and I found him immensely helpful with all of this comments. The on-track coaches observe you doing the skills from the front and the rear, so they see all your nasty habits...and will help beat them out of you! I thought it was really cool how much could be communicated as your traveling around the track just by hand signals and pointing...and even a thumbs-up every now and then for a skill improved!
Speaking of nasty habits...the camera bike doesn't lie and you can't hide either! James was in charge of reviewing video with each student who got on the bike and pointed out some helpful ways to improve. I wish I had been on this after drill #5 instead of drill #2!
The other off-track bike I rode today was the lean bike. This has the outriggers on it to keep you from falling over while you work on body positioning. Gerry was running this bike and suggested some improvements to my positioning, but said I had pretty good positioning going in already...Thanks Ben, Lars and Total Control!
I should mention that Drill #5 and the remaining two track session were done with the S1000RR in sport mode...hold onto your hats ladies and gentlemen, you just got 50 extra HP and 8 extra degrees of lean angle! It was truly a beautiful thing! A phenomenal bike with amazing capabilities!
I'm off to dinner, but will be back later if I don't fall asleep!
I forgot to mention that I, slow Jim, passed people. Successfully and, more importantly, safely.
Quote from: Ducatician on July 06, 2011, 07:03:41 PM
I forgot to mention that I, slow Jim, passed people. Successfully and, more importantly, safely.
[thumbsup]
Quote from: avizpls on July 06, 2011, 06:02:54 AM
sorry.....maybe im just jealous. Cant wait to follow your diary.
(http://www.chickgig.com/gigsimg/1010030948jealousy.jpg)
Quote from: Ducatician on July 06, 2011, 08:52:39 PM
(http://www.chickgig.com/gigsimg/1010030948jealousy.jpg)
THank you for the giggle! [thumbsup]
Quote from: ducati culture on July 07, 2011, 05:27:58 AM
THank you for the Jiggle! [thumbsup]
fixed that for ya! ;)
Quote from: Ducatician on July 07, 2011, 05:52:38 AM
fixed that for ya! ;)
no you didn't...it isn't a GIF image....
Quote from: Ducatician on July 06, 2011, 07:03:41 PM
I forgot to mention that I, slow Jim, passed people. Successfully and, more importantly, safely.
Hate to break it to you, but you've gotten much quicker than you were just a few months ago. And that was before going to this class.
Quote from: zooom on July 07, 2011, 06:33:38 AM
no you didn't...it isn't a GIF image....
Don't tempt the man. ;)
Well, I'm sad to say that Day 2 is over. :'(
I'll give you the drills for the day first and then throw some pictures up.
Most of the drills today focused on developing visual skills.
Drill 1: Reference points. What they are; how to pick them and make them your own. This really helped me work on Turn 1, which was a beast...end of the straight decreasing radius turn that has crash barriers all along it that look like they hurt. Visually frightening when you're screaming in with a ton of speed. I spent a lot of time studying the skid marks and other features to work on my line through there. This drill required us to identify and tell our on-track coach what we were using for reference points in our worst turns.
Drill 2: Change lines. This drill is designed to help you in lots of situations and to use the entire track...particularly helpful with passing and managing traffic in general. It began with 3 laps: right side of track only, left side of track only, center of track only. This drill was also designed to eliminate fears you have regarding various features on the track...those red and white stripe curbs...run up on them and see how they feel. Some were better than others...I didn't care for the ridged ones and decided that maintaining a good line was best to stay away from them.
Drill 3: The 3-step extends on yesterday's 2-step. This is designed to get you to overcome survival reactions like looking at the outside of the turn...look there and end up there. The idea is to repeat the two step at the apex of the corner to choose the best exit point. So it's something like this: Step 1-locate turn-in point, before the bike is at that point locate your apex (step 2). Before your bike is at the apex, locate your exit (or the next turn-in point for connected curves). Very hard to do on some of the turns, so you had to add intermediary steps along the way.
Drill 4: Wide view. Working to avoid target fixation. This drill was purely visual and your goal was to open up your vision as much as possible and use your peripheral vision to maximum advantage. Tons of information is fed very quickly on the track, so you have to practice using your peripheral vision to edit (ignore) those things which are not helpful.
Drill 5: Pickup. This is a transition to level 3 exercise that I like a lot. The idea is to pro-steer (opposite of counter steer) to get the bike to stand up earlier (and get on the gas earlier). Just remember to keep your big ass leaned over where you were so you hold your line. Then get yourself back up on top of the bike.
The remaining 2 track sessions were work on what you need to the most and get feed back from your coach.
I think I made great gains in terms of skills between the two days and had a blast doing it. I didn't make huge gains in terms of lap times on day 2, but I increased my consistency...something that I had hoped this course would do.
Here's the track. The school was held on the east track:
(http://autoweek.com/storyimage/CW/20090221/FREE/902219995/V2/V2-902219995.jpg)
Here's me on the track:
(http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s255/jimwatsondc/IMG_7503.jpg)
(http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s255/jimwatsondc/IMG_8181.jpg)
(http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s255/jimwatsondc/IMG_8441.jpg)
(http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s255/jimwatsondc/IMG_8844.jpg)
(http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s255/jimwatsondc/IMG_9202.jpg)
(http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s255/jimwatsondc/IMG_9305.jpg)
Here is the anti-street tire...thick in the middle and thin on both sides:
(http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s255/jimwatsondc/DSCN0047.jpg)
You really can reach the edges of the Q2s!
Here's the corner workers in action. The corner workers get track time (as many sessions as the students) in exchange for working the corners..plus one more (during lunch when students can't ride).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAQHQqrurBE
Who would have known I was gonna be a celebrity?!?
(http://dlstatic.speedtv.com/imageserve/0aDz4d50zpgSy/575x459.jpg?fit=scale&background=000000)
The whole article is here: http://motorcycling.speedtv.com/article/bikes-california-superbike-school-at-miller-motorsports-park/ (http://motorcycling.speedtv.com/article/bikes-california-superbike-school-at-miller-motorsports-park/)
Autographs available upon request.