Vicarious trip to miller and CA superbike school

[zooom]

fixed that for ya!

no you didn't...it isn't a GIF image....

[DRKWNG]

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.

no you didn't...it isn't a GIF image....

Don't tempt the man.   

[Meerkat]

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.

[Meerkat]

Here's the track. The school was held on the east track:

Here's me on the track:






Here is the anti-street tire...thick in the middle and thin on both sides:

You really can reach the edges of the Q2s!

[Meerkat]

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).

[Meerkat]

Who would have known I was gonna be a celebrity?!?


The whole article is here: http://motorcycling.speedtv.com/article/bikes-california-superbike-school-at-miller-motorsports-park/

Autographs available upon request.